Expecting More
by xGlass
Summary: Sora is pregnant with his ex-boything's baby. Riku doesn't know what to do with his future. They both must learn what it means to be family. RikuSora, past VanSora. Mpreg. LeonCloud. RenoKairi. Baby!Axel. Kid!Demyx.
1. Chapter 1

**Expecting More**

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of Joan Jett's songs.

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_CHAPTER ONE_

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Sora should have known. Really, he should have. All the signs of cheating had been blatantly obvious for months now. _Months._ And Sora still hadn't left. Why hadn't he left?

Oh, right. He was in love with a bastard.

Being in love was a lot more difficult than most people gave it credit for. A hell of a lot more difficult than people gave it credit for! Sora could assure anyone of that fact. He could write books on love, books entitled "Things that Shouldn't Suck that Do Sometimes" and "You Should Consider Dumping Him If."

Sora thought it was worth it all, though, and always tried to cling to good memories when things were tough. Obviously Vanny was not cut from the same cloth.

_Damn. _Sora thought. _I gotta quit calling him "Vanny."_

Vanitas was outgoing. So was Sora. They both liked to party. Vanitas' friends were all kind of assholes, but when you loved someone you had to at least pretend to sort of like their friends.

But lately, maybe for a couple weeks or so, Sora had just been _tired. _Emotionally, physically, all-overly. He didn't think he'd ever gotten so much sleep in his life. It wasn't that he didn't want to go party, but he had work the next day, and the lights made him dizzy. And it smelled a bit funny in some clubs, too, and honestly he'd rather be sleeping. Vanitas still went off without him, though.

Vanitas was very attractive. Of course he was, he was Sora's current boything. But Sora just knew he was cheating. It's not a feeling you can explain to someone that hasn't experience it; it's just a conscious realization that the person you love is in someone else's arms.

The feeling had started nudging him about three months ago when one of Vanitas' "friends" called. Vanitas was kind of flirty with everybody, so Sora really didn't pay it much mind, but he was definitely an extra flirty-flirt on the phone. He didn't even leave the room, though! Would Vanny really be so blatant?

…Does eating too much fatty food make you fatty fat?

Yes! Yes, it does. Yes, Vanny would do that sort of thing. In fact, Vanny would probably see it as a challenge! A "Let's see how long I can cheat without being caught" challenge!

Well, he was caught. Sora had _seen _it. Had come home early one day to the noise of bumping and grinding coming from _their bedroom! _Would Vanny really be so blatant? Would he do something like that to Sora?

…Is New York City a city in New York?

Yes! Yes, it is. Yes, Vanny would pull that sort of stunt. A "Let's see if me and the person I'm cheating on Sora with can both come and get out before Sora gets home" challenge! Damn him! One time Sora woke up from a nap and just had this crystal clear picture of Vanitas screwing some long-legged, busty blonde. It had just felt so _real. _He should have called it right then and there. Should have said, "Hey, Vanny! You know what? Fuck you! Fuck you in your asshole that you'd never let me touch! Fuck you there hard, dry, and rough!"

But Sora was nice. And he was also too tired to fuck Vanny hard, dry, and rough. That didn't stop Vanny from fucking him, even when he'd been asleep before the whole sex thing had gotten started, but damn.

It was just getting old.

Was Sora happy in this relationship?

…Did men menstruate?

No! No, they didn't. No, Sora was not happy. And he was going to have to man up and do something about it or else Vanny was going to end up giving him all sorts of communicable diseases!

So Sora gathered his courage and decided to talk to Vanny. No, damn it. _Vanitas._ He was going to talk to Vanitas, his ex-boything. For sure.

Sora called Vanny immediately, so his courage didn't bolt like a startled gazelle.

"Hallo?"

"Vanny!" As soon as Sora heard that voice, he kind of forgot his self-imposed name-changing rule.

"Hey, Sora. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you." Sora cringed. Was that not the ultimate break up starting cue? That garbage had just spewed from his mouth? Oh, for Christ's Sake, Sora. Grow a pair. "Let's get coffee this afternoon."

"Uh, okay. Where at? Your shop?"

No. Hell to the no, not at his shop! Larxene would hear and cackle like the evil little eavesdropping witch that she was! "How about the one closer to your work? I'll be there at two."

"Two is good. Can't wait to see you, babe."

"Yeah, me too." _Cause I'm dumping your selfish ass. Boo-yah!_

Sora hung up and placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed their apartment. Time to take back what was his! Excellent!

The first thing Sora did was set his phone to go off at one forty-five so he wouldn't lose track of time and miss the meeting with Vanny. He didn't want the guy to come home to find Sora packing. That'd be too mean.

Okay. Maybe it wouldn't be. Sora didn't need the revenge, though. All he needed was to get Vanny out of his life.

And he was also taking the TV. Heck yes.

Sora's grey Toyota Corolla was stuffed to the max. His two blue suitcases were filled with his clothes and stuffed in the trunk. The TV was gently laid on top of them.

Sora's nice cuddly blankets and throw pillows and accessories he'd purchased for Vanny's apartment (no longer his!) were packed into the passenger seat. His books and dresser (that had been a challenge to get down the steps) were in the backseat.

All that was left was to somehow un-cosign the lease!

He went down to the lobby and spilled his story to the manager—an older woman whom Sora knew was enthralled with soap operas—and of course the woman let him go. Sora wrote her a check for half the remaining rent on the apartment for the year. And that was that!

Sora grinned and checked his watch. It was now two-thirty. Oh. Oops? He picked up his phone and speed dialed his ex-boything. _I'll have to fix that_, Sora thought about his phone. _No more speed dialing cheaters._

"Vanny! Van, are you there?" Sora heard someone pick up, and the phone jostled between hands.

"Uh, who is this?"

"It's Sora."

"Oh. Right. Coffee."

"Vanny?" Sora paused for a moment. "You aren't at work, are you?"

"…No."

"Who's there with you?"

"No one, Sora."

"I'm not stupid, Van." It came out harsher than Sora intended, but the effect was the same. "Who's there with you?"

"It's nothing, Sora."

"Damn it, Van!" Sora bit his lip, struggling with himself. Van was with someone. They _both_ knew Van was cheating. As in, right now. Cheating. "I didn't want it to be this way." Sora said weakly.

"I know."

"No, you don't know! Shut up!" Sora's moods were swinging like Tarzan. He couldn't help it. This was a super emotional break up for him, and Van was just acting like he expected it! He probably did. He had to know the game was going to end sooner or later.

"Sora? Are you crying?"

…Do wars tend to be violent in nature? Yes! Of course he was crying. His fist was jammed into his mouth to hide his sobs. God damn Van. God damn relationship that meant so much more to Sora than that cheating cheat.

Sora took a deep breath and forced off the tears. He could break down later.

"It's over."

"I kind of figured."

"We're over. Done. I paid off all the rent I owe. Don't come looking for me for anything. Not even if you're dying of cancer. Good riddance. Sayonara. Au revoir."

Sora congratulated himself for hanging up immediately. He quickly surfed through the features on his phone and blocked a number he'd learned by heart.

It hurt, but it felt good. Fresh air is breathable.

Sora left his key on the kitchen counter and dragged the last of his belongings (all the kitchen stuff. Like Van bothered to cook, the slacker.) down to his corolla, which by now looked ready to burst at the seams.

Sora rearranged some stuff to fit in the last items, then plopped down in the driver's seat and proceeded to bawl like a baby. For the next half hour.

After that was done, and Sora felt so much better, he called his older brother.

"Cloud?"

"Sora?" Sora could tell that Cloud immediately sensed a disturbance in the force. Cloud was weird like that. "What's wrong?"

"Cloud, can I come stay with you?"

"Yes. You and Van?"

"Let's not even go there."

"What about your job?"

Sora paused to consider that. Cloud lived about four hours away from Keyblade Graveyard (what the hell had possessed Sora to move to such a creepy place, anyway? Oh, right. Vanny.) in Hollow Bastion. There was no way Sora could keep his job. He'd just have to find a new one and mooch off Cloud in the meantime.

"I'm quitting. Please?"

"Of course you can come, Sora. Are you heading this way now?"

"Yeah, I'll be there by like, six-thirty or seven."

"I'll be home."

Sora smiled softly. "Thanks, Cloud."

"What are big brothers for? Drive safe, kid."

"Okay."

"See you tonight."

"Okay. Love you. Bye."

"Bye."

Sora dropped his phone into the cup holder next to his seat. Then scooped in back up and dialed his boss. His boss was not too happy, mostly because of the extreme short notice, but Sora was such a nice employee and covered so many shifts that he was let go with minimal fuss. So Sora dropped his phone again and let his head sink into his hands.

It felt like his whole life had done a complete headstand, loop-the-loop dance. He started the corolla and jammed the radio off. Sora was not in the mood for inevitably cheery love songs.

He fished around in his car until he found the CD he was looking for. Van had bought it for him, yes, but it was not CD about love.

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN 'BOUT MY REPUTATION!" Sora screamed along with Joan Jett as he pulled out of the apartment complex. "A GIRL CAN DO WANT SHE WANTS TO DO AND THAT'S WHAT I'M GONNA DO!"

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A/N: My first time writing Sora. His bubbliness is fun. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! (I was going to wait to post this, but I can't! I'm like an overly bubbly Sora bursting with excitement to post.)


	2. Chapter 2

_CHAPTER TWO_

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Sora made frequent stops on his trip to Hollow Bastion. Why? Because obviously he had swallowed a fire hydrant. There was no other reason for his hyperactive bladder.

Sora was so relieved to see the exit for Hollow Bastion that he felt his eyes swell with tears. What the crap. What was wrong with him? Why was he being such an emotional turd today? It had been an emotional day, though. Maybe that was it. When Sora finally got to Cloud's house, he was peeing for the hundredth time, eating whatever take-out Cloud had purchased, and passing out on a bed. Preferably in that order.

What Sora was not expecting, however, was for there to be an actual car on the driveway in front of Cloud's townhome. Fenrir was in the garage, Sora assumed, but what was that car doing? Unless Cloud had gotten a boything and _not told Sora about it! _That's just like something Cloud would do.

Sora parked his car on the curb and dragged his two suitcases out from the trunk, which involved moving the TV. He hauled his clothes to the door and knocked.

He waited a couple of moments until he spotted the doorbell.

"…Oh." Sora pressed it, and heard a quite a commotion from inside. The door popped open and Sora grinned at his brother.

"Cloud!" He dropped his bags and flew into Cloud's expecting arms. "I made it in one piece! Yay!"

"I'm so proud." Cloud rolled his eyes and dropped Sora's feet to the ground. "Do you need any help getting stuff inside?"

Sora snorted. "Do you prefer your penis attached?"

Cloud raised a brow. "Is that a threat or a very powerful yes?"

Sora shrugged. "Maybe a little of both?"

Cloud chuckled and ruffled Sora's hair. "You know where the guest room is. I'll start hauling your crap inside."

"Thanks, older brother, for the loan of your godly muscles."

"Yeah, yeah." Cloud waved Sora towards the stairs with a smirk.

Sora dragged his suitcases up the stairs with loud "CLOMP CLOMP" noises that were perversely satisfying. He dropped them in the room and flopped onto the bed. What a day. He decided he could at least get one of his three tasks done and headed for the adjoined bathroom.

When he exited, Cloud had already gotten almost everything else inside.

"You are a mutant freak." Sora told him. "Thank you for using your superpowers to get my belongings inside."

"Our superpowers." Cloud replied as a tall brunette walked into the room carrying the last of Sora's possessions. "Sora, meet Leon. Leon, meet Sora."

Sora gasped delightedly. "Is he your boything?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Boy_friend_, Sora."

Sora didn't care, and as soon as Leon sat what he was holding down he got an armful of Sora. "It's like we're brothers now, too!"

Leon met Cloud's amused gaze over the top of Sora's spiky head. "It's nice to meet you, Sora."

Sora made a noise of contentment. "Do you have food?"

Cloud laughed. "Yes, we have food. What do you want?"

"Pizza! Ice cream! Gatorade!"

"I'll see what I can do." Leon said, using Sora's request to slip away from the death-grip hug without injuring Sora's feelings.

Cloud gave Sora a nod and left after Leon. Sora flopped onto the comfy queen-sized bed that he now had all to himself. He decided to go ahead and change into his jammies. Then maybe lay down for a few more minutes…

When he woke up, it was eleven in the morning. Sora's first thoughts were centered around peanut M&Ms.

He needed some. He needed some _bad._

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"Jenova and Sons, this is Riku. How may I help you today?"

That was the story of Riku's fucking life.

Riku really had no idea why the company was entitled "Jenova and Sons," because he'd only ever seen the sons. Not Jenova. In fact, women were pretty rare around here. Except as secretaries, and thus Riku's coworkers.

You might say, "Riku! You're a bright, young lad. What are you doing working as a secretary for a law firm like Jenova and Sons? They are prestigious and all, but you aren't meant to be a secretary!"

And Riku would reply, "I KNOW THAT. FUCK OFF."

See, it all had to do with this little mistake he'd made. Well, not a mistake, per se, but this bright idea he had. Not so bright, actually.

He'd finished his undergraduate education, right? Excellent job, Riku! A Bachelor of Science in both Accounting and Business Management! Right? Right?

And then, instead of going to the Law School he'd been accepted in, he'd decided that hey, why not work in a law firm to gain a bit of experience as well as make sure law school was really for him?

Sounds clever, right?

WRONG.

Riku had sure thought he'd been smart, but working for Jenova was like pulling out his fingernails. Very slowly pulling them out over the course of six months, to ensure optimum agony.

Riku was not a happy camper. He was pretty miserable. He had thought he'd be working alongside the lawyers as an intern, not that he'd become the secretary _assistant. _A secretary assistant! This was not what he wanted to do with his life.

He preferred to think of himself as a secretary. Riku was sure better at it than most of the giggly, busty bimbos around him. Eye candy, they were. Really dumb eye candy.

So he'd finally gotten off work—lunch break, not going home time happiness—and decided he needed to just get away from this place for awhile. He told his current boss, Loz, that he was going on a longer lunch break, and Loz had begged for delicious food. Peanut M&Ms, to be precise Riku decided he could deal with that. It wasn't the most eccentric request he'd fulfilled during his time at this nuthouse.

So off Riku went, down the streets of Hollow Bastion to fetch his boss some peanut M&Ms and wander around for awhile and then grab some lunch.

He found the perfect store. Candyland. Why was there a Candyland in downtown Hollow Bastion? Who the hell knows? It was there, it was convenient, and it probably had peanut M&Ms.

Riku entered the disgustingly neon store and pushed his way through the greedy little children and their snotty little faces that were shoved against the glass to head to the back of the store where he sensed the bags of candy would be hidden.

When he arrived, he saw one bag left. And as he reached for it, so did someone else. He followed the outstretched tan arm up to a beautifully innocent face framed with spiky brown hair.

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Sora snapped into action immediately. No one was taking away his peanut M&Ms, damn it! He quickly snatched the bag up and headed for the cashier in a rush.

"…HEY!" He heard the man's voice protest, but he didn't stop. He was craving these little angels. They belonged to his stomach. He could taste them. Already digesting! Nom nom nom!

And then the bag was stolen! He turned and gave the thief the most wounded look he could muster. "I need those!"

"I need them more!"

Sora gasped indignantly. "No way!"

"Yes way!"

"I had them first!"

"You _snatched _them from me!" The man snorted, giving Sora a dirty look.

"I did not! You weren't even near them—"

"I was too, I was looking _right at them _and standing _right in front of them_—"

"No you weren't! You were just loitering around!"

"Loitering? _Loitering?_"

"Yes! Give those back!"

"No."

"GIVE. THEM. BACK." Sora had no idea why these M&Ms were so important, but he _needed_ them. It was not a want. It was pure _need._

"MAKE ME." The man shot back. Sora reached out and grabbed one end of the bag. The man managed to maintain his grasp on the other half.

They proceeded to have an angry tug-of-war over the M&Ms until the bag gave out and split and dozens of peanut M&Ms went flying every direction.

Sora belatedly realized that their argument had garnered most of the store's attention, and that there was an angry manager looking at them.

"Which one of you is going to pay for that?"

Sora immediately dropped the bag. "They're all his."

The man glowered.

The manager only raised a brow. "I'll be charging you each two dollars and fifty cents. Really, all that fuss over candy? Aren't you adults?"

Sora pouted. "Adults that really wanted peanut M&Ms." He gazed forlornly at the floor.

Riku couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he saw the depressed look on the other man's face. As the two waited at the cash register to pay for the mess they'd created, Riku decided to apologize.

"I'm sorry."

The other man was startled, and then looked a little sheepish. "Me too. We did get a little out of hand, didn't we?"

Riku nodded. "The candy was for my boss. I just didn't want to have to trek across town to the Moogle Mart to buy M&Ms."

And the other man smiled. Riku, as corny as it sounded, felt his heart throb in his chest. "What a beautiful smile." He murmured.

"Excuse me?"

Riku flushed. "I said—"

The other man looked a little coy with a blush of his. "I heard what you said."

"Yeah." Riku paused and dug his hands into his pockets. "Would you like to go to Moogle Mart with me…?"

"Sora. I'm Sora." Sora smiled again. Riku decided Loz could wait.

* * *

"Welcome to Moogle Mart. Can I help you find something today, kupo?" A forced-smiley and pimply teenager asked them as they entered the fluorescent neon red, dumpy building.

"No—" Riku began.

"Yes!" Sora exclaimed at the same time. The two looked at each other, then back at the pimple boy. He blinked.

"Uh, right." He said, and wandered off towards some other customers who were entering.

Sora frowned. "Now how are we supposed to find the M&Ms?"

"We go to the candy section."

"Do you know where the candy section is?"

"Yes." Riku stated, and lead Sora straight down the first isle.

* * *

"This looks like kitchen and bathroom cleaning supplies." Sora rolled his eyes mentally. It _was _cleaning supplies, it didn't _look_ like it. He was trying to get Mr. Tightbutt to stop and ask for directions, but he was being such a damn _man._

"We're getting close." Riku replied.

"We could just ask?"

"No, I'm pretty sure we can find it."

Sora sighed. Would they find the candy? Yes. How long would it take? The world may never know.

Finally, they reached the food. _Guess what?_ Sora mused. _We should have taken a right at the registers, not gone straight. _Of course, Mr. Tightbutt just commented on how convenient it was, located to the registers and all. Sora was amused.

Moogle Mart had plenty of available peanut M&M bags. Sora grabbed one, opened it, and began munching.

"Mmm! So good, so good~" He shut his eyes and imagined a little happy dance in his head.

"Did you need them that much?" Tightbutt asked.

"Yes, I did." _Shut up and let me enjoy my chocolately bliss._

"You sound like your having an orgasm."

Sora choked a bit. "_What? _You can't say things like that in a public location!"

"Things like what?"

"You know!"

"Like orgasm?"

"_Yes like that."_

Riku shrugged. "Okay."

Sora watched Riku grab a bag himself. Then Sora grabbed one more bag and possessively cuddled it to his chest. They marched to the register.

Sora was surprised when Riku paid for his M&Ms.

"You don't have to."

"I know." Riku sent Sora a cheeky grin. "Consider it another apology, if you have to."

"Okay." Sora nodded, not sure why he was feeling a little flushed.

It was only later in the day he would notice the phone number written on the second bag of M&Ms.

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A/N: I'm totally guilty of the directional thing. Pisses my logical and efficient boyfriend off. He's like, "we could just _ask _and be out of here in five minutes." and I'm always like, "no, no, I know where it is." I never do and we wander around until he gets irritated and asks someone for directions. Then I get mad when he starts leading and say I was getting us there.

Traveling, too. I'm so guilty. He drives and does the directions and puts me in charge of the music to keep me happy. I don't know why but I just don't like asking other people. What if they're lying? I mean, no one ever has, but still. And I like to figure it out on my own. I dunno.

Thanks for all the reviews! I hope you guys liked this new chapter! Just for future reference, I try to update on weekends.


	3. Chapter 3

_CHAPTER THREE_

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_Omigosh! _Sora thought to himself as he gazed at Riku's phone number. _OMIGOSH. Should I call him? What should I do? _

Sora decided to consult his brother, Cloud. Cloud was usually good at this type of stuff. Too bad he was at work, but Sora was going to call him anyway.

"Hello?" Cloud's voice blasted through the phone's speaker. Sora was feeling melodramatic so he was sprawled out on the guest bed in a "woe-is-me" pose.

"Cloud!" He cried.

"Oh, it's you. You finally wake up? You were out like the dead."

"I bought peanut M&Ms."

"Okay…?"

"_Cloud_, there was a _boy._"

"A potential boything?"

"He gave me his phone number on a bag of peanut M&Ms."

"Sounds like a match made in heaven."

"Should I call him?"

"Yeah."

"Like, now? Isn't that desperate? Should I wait?"

"Did your dick crawl up into your body and sprout a vagina?"

"Cloud, I'm being serious!"

"Seriously girly. C'mon, Sora. Just call him back sometime tomorrow."

"Yeah. Okay. That sounds good."

"Maybe you should go bra shopping this afternoon."

"Bye Cloud." Sora snapped his phone shut. Okay, maybe he _was _being a bit girly. He really had been feeling overly emotional for awhile now.

And then his stomach did a dance. Not a happy one, either.

Maybe peanut M&Ms were not the first thing one should eat in the morning.

* * *

He meant to call Riku back, really he did. But Sora was _sick. _What was the point of calling when there was no way he could do anything? He was tired and mopey and puking. He had no idea what was going on, but he was really sick. He figured it was some bug thing.

Some little bug thing that was now encroaching on a _week._ Cloud was even a bit worried.

"You should go to the doctor."

"No." Sora whined pitifully. He was laying in the guest room again, still in a "woe-is-me" pose. "I hate the doctor."

"You need some drugs."

"_You_ need some drugs."

Cloud just rolled his eyes. "I'm making you an appointment. I'll drag your ass there if I have to."

And Cloud had to do just that.

* * *

The doctor's office was a sickening green color. Sora had no idea why they'd picked such a nauseating color. He was already nauseous enough.

Cloud plopped Sora's deadweight ass in a chair in the waiting room while he signed his brother in.

Then they waited. And then Sora's name was called.

Dr. Vexen took them back and Cloud once again plopped Sora's deadweight ass on the examining table.

Dr. Vexen did a bunch of tests, body examining, and that stupid thing Sora hated where you had to pee in a cup. Sora really, really hated that. Talk about performance anxiety! He couldn't relax enough to pee!

Then Dr. Vexen came back into the room with a perplexed look on his face.

Cloud didn't like that look. "What's going on?"

"I'm dying, aren't I?" Sora whined melodramatically, and Cloud shot him a glare.

"I'd like to run a couple more tests, if you don't mind. They're longer and slightly more invasive, but should hopefully tell us what's going on."

"What do you think is wrong?" Cloud asked.

"It appears that you have a metabolically active tumor in your lower pelvic cavity."

"…What?" Sora replied.

"You've got a growing thing inside you, above your groin." Vexen looked up from his clipboard. "I don't think it's malignant, but it's rather large and I'm surprised it hasn't caused any adverse health conditions before now."

Sora was speechless.

"We should run those tests." Cloud answered for him in a stern tone. "Now."

"That's just fine." Vexen answered. "We've got all the machines."

* * *

After three hours of tests, (two hours of tests and one hour of Sora taking pee or puke breaks), Vexen sent Sora and Cloud back into the examining room they began in. A couple minutes later, he entered with a couple of folders on his clipboard.

"Am I dying?" Sora repeated his question from earlier.

"Quite the opposite, Mr. Strife." Vexen replied, shifting through the papers. "You're pregnant."

Two identical blue gazes stared at the doctor in shock.

"_What?"_

"I'm not lying to you." Vexen turned on a light screen behind him and opened a few folders, adjusting the papers. "As you know, this is a Minute Clinic. As such, I don't actually have your medical records on file. First of all, because you're a first-time patient, and second of all because we send those reports back to your main physician. We're typically emergency situations only."

Vexen lifted up an x-ray image and placed it on the light screen. "Okay. As you can see from this image, Mr. Strife's pelvic bone structure is completely normal. Lower abdominal pain can be caused by bladder stones, which x-rays can sometimes detect. However, based on the description of your symptoms, I doubted bladder stones were the cause. I don't like ruling anything out, though, and I wanted to check your lower inguinal zone for any abnormalities. This image shows none.

"However," Vexen continued, "your MRI image is a different story."

Vexen placed the image on the screen and Cloud and Sora did a double take.

"Is… is that _real?_" Sora was flabbergasted.

"Yes, Mr. Strife. It's real."

"But it's… it's…" Sora had no words.

"A _uterus._" Cloud finished. "Sora has a _uterus?_"

"A uterus with _a baby?_"

Vexen nodded. "Yes, so it seems. He has a complete and intact female reproductive system. However, his male genitalia are dominant. For the past few years, his brain has agreed with his physical body and accordingly released male reproductive hormones. However, that doesn't mean that Mr. Strife's female system has been inactive. It appears to be working just fine. Your eggs are released from ovaries and then expelled during menstruation."

Sora was pale. "The hell? Menstruation? Men don't _menstruate!_ It's like a law of nature!"

"I'm not sure where all the uterine lining disappears too, though." Vexen continued, seemingly unaware of Sora's impeding mental breakdown. "Perhaps the lymphatic system clears away the blood from the interstitial fluid?"

"Holy crap." Sora mumbled. "Holy crap, holy crap. I'm dreaming. No, I'm nightmaring."

"Nightmaring isn't a word." Cloud replied. "But if you're doing it, I'm doing it too."

"Omigosh." Sora said. "Omigosh, this is _ridiculous."_

"You do have the option of abortion. You are about a month and a half along. You can take some time to decide. However, partial birth abortions are illegal in this area. You'll need to decide about the procedure before your final trimester. You also have the option of removing your female gentalia either during the abortion procedure or after the baby's birth."

"Okay." Sora took a deep breath. "What if I want to keep it? Any advice or anything?"

"Yes. This is very rare. I doubt it's ever been reported before. I will search for other cases. Right now, I'd like you to keep this quiet. There's no need for the media to get hold of this story and sensationalize the balls off it." Vexen muttered darkly. "I give you my word to keep this between us. I specialize in reproductive health.

"Suggestions? Bed rest. Lots of it. Your body has believed itself to be male for years and your brain has suddenly turned on the female hormones at full blast. You're most likely going to be dizzy and faint often. I want you to come back and see me at the beginning of your fourth month. The MRI provided a good image of your fetus, probably better than an ultrasound. So far, it looks perfectly healthy. Eat right, get plenty of rest, and try not to stress out. I'm well aware this is a strange situation, but stress is never good for a baby."

"Okay." Sora nodded. "I think I'm going to pass out."

Cloud caught him. The blonde, while a little horrified, was sardonically amused by the situation and let out a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?" The doctor asked.

"I was teasing him about growing a vagina." Cloud smirked.

Vexen rolled his eyes. "Take care of him. Feel free to contact me with any questions or in the case of emergencies."

"Yes. Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

* * *

It was hard for Sora to think about.

Pregnant.

_Pregnant. _

Fuck, he was only _twenty-one. _And he was _pregnant. _

And he was a man. A _pregnant _man.

It felt like everything he'd ever known was spinning around and doing a topsy-turvy drunken dance number and Sora just couldn't figure out the steps. Craziness.

Sora didn't know what to do. Pregnant. He was going to get fat and have to lay around in a bed for like a year and eat healthy food and not drink. Because he was pregnant.

Sora was stressing out.

_Omigosh_, Sora thought, _what am I doing? What have I done? What the hell is going on? How did this happen? Why me? Why not Cloud? Cloud would love a vagina so he could pop out Leon babies. _

And then something hit him.

He was going to have a _baby. _He was _pregnant _and that meant that he was going to end up popping out a _baby_.

Not just any babies, Vanny's baby.

_Oh snap, _Sora thought. Just when he thought he'd gotten rid of that no good loser, too.

"Cloud." The blonde could hear his little brother's whining from downstairs. "Cloooud, I need you."

The blonde sighed, ran his fingers through his spiky locks, and trudged up the stairs. "What is it, Sora?"

He was greeted with a teary-eyed monster.

"I don't _know!_"

"What is it you don't know?" Cloud was not one for philosophical ramblings, especially those of his little brother. Sora could just go on and on sometimes; you had to snap him back to the topic on hand.

"What am I going to do?" Sora looked so lost Cloud had to feel a little bad for the kid.

"Do you want to keep the baby?"

Sora looked down to the floor. "I don't know. I haven't decided. It's hard."

"What's hard? Do you not want to be pregnant?"

"It's a little freaky."

"It is, but the doctor said it's not dangerous. Who gets that kind of chance, Sora?" Cloud made a bit of a wistful face. "Men don't have babies. This is really, really fucking rare."

"It's Vanny's baby." Sora whispered. "I don't know if I wanted to be connected to him like that."

Cloud sat down in a chair near the head of the guest bed. "Yeah. He would have some legal rights."

"We're not married—"

"It doesn't matter. When you get down to it, it's his kid, too." Cloud pointed out. "I think you could make a case that he's not father material. The mother usually gets the kids in cases like this. Plus, you don't _have _to tell him."

Sora tilted his head to the side. "You're right. I don't."

"You don't."

Sora nodded, a bit of a smile on his face. "I don't think I will. He doesn't like kids, anyway."

"It's your call."

There was a bit of silence. Sora looked happy with his decision and Cloud was trying to figure out how to approach the next topic without injuring Sora's feelings.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"If you," Cloud stopped for a second, and took a calming breath. "If you… Leon and I, we've been talking about adoption."

Sora wiggled enthusiastically. "It's that serious between you two?"

Cloud smiled. "It is."

"Well, yay!"

Cloud chuckled. "I was trying to say that if you don't want the baby, Leon and I will adopt it. So you can still see it and stuff but we'd be the parents."

Sora froze. "O-Oh."

"It's just an option. We'd never try to take your baby away if you don't want us to. And I also don't want you to think we'd only help you if you were going to give the baby to us. We will support you wholeheartedly either way. But it's an option, if the thought is just overwhelming."

"I can see where you're coming from," Sora replied. "But I don't think I'm ready to make that kind of call."

"I'd be surprised if you were." Cloud said. "But I think you need to carry the baby to full term."

Sora grinned. "The more I think about it, the more I want to, too. I mean, I like kids. A lot."

"You elementary education major, you."

Sora laughed. "Shut up! I can still take online classes, can't I?"

"I'm sure you can, if you feel up to it."

"It's my baby too, not just Van's." Sora smiled. "And I'd teach it to not be a cheating bastard."

Cloud smirked. "What a good mother you are."

"I'm _not _a girl. I'll be a _father."_

"Fine."

"Maybe a dad." Sora mused. "I like the sound of 'daddy'."

* * *

Riku was not having a good life. He thought himself to be relatively attractive. He thought he was pretty charming and polite. He was good boyfriend material.

Why hadn't Sora called him?

Riku sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He was at work (of course he was. Where else would he be?) and he was moping. He didn't care that some of the older secretaries were shooting him sympathetic looks. (That's because he didn't notice them. He would have been pissed if he'd known. He's not a fucking _child._)

Why hadn't Sora called him? Riku figured there could only be two reasons: one, because he was a horrible tease, or two, that he was really dumb and didn't find the number.

For his pride, Riku hoped it was the second one. He thought that perhaps he and Sora had had a little chemistry. It'd been a nice break from his normal routine. Riku had never spent so much time with someone so bouncy.

He wanted to date Sora. At least once. Riku wanted to take him to Mickey's, the popular date spot. He wanted to sit together in a secluded area and play eye-tag with Sora and talk about useless things.

But Sora hadn't called him back. Why didn't he somehow find a way to sneak around and obtain the boy's number? Because he'd given Sora his number! He hardly ever did that. And when you gave someone your number you expected them to call you back. If you didn't call back, you were rejecting them.

Riku didn't do so well with the whole concept of rejection, so he preferred to think that Sora was daft and clumsy and had simply lost his number or not seen it.

So his heart broke a little one day when Sora called him back. Almost _two weeks_ after their impromptu "date." Riku didn't pick up. He wouldn't know what to say. He wanted to hear what Sora had to say. And then he could plan out a response and call Sora back on his own terms.

Once the voicemail had been recorded, Riku eagerly pressed the play back button and jammed his cell phone next to his ear.

"Hey Riku, it's Sora. You remember me? You gave me your number on that bag of M&Ms." Sora laughed. Riku smiled a little himself. "I'm really sorry for not calling you back sooner. I've been really sick. I'm still really sick. My brother has me on bed rest and I've not been doing much of anything."

Sora paused for a moment, and Riku heard him take a deep breath. "I'd honestly forgotten about you. I'm so sorry. I've had other things—one really fucking huge thing, to be honest; it's the reason I'm sick—on my mind. It's got nothing to do with you. I found the half-empty M&Ms bag earlier today and I spent the morning trying to gather the courage to call you. It's been like… two weeks. That's like ten times longer than common courtesy for calling-back, you know? I'm so sorry. I'd like to see you again, if you still want me, but I can't really do much of anything." Riku heard a little beeping noise. "And now I'm running out of time. I guess you can call me back if you want. I'll keep my phone by my—"

Then message cut off. Riku moved his phone away from his ear.

He should call Sora back. Maybe.

* * *

A/N: And mpreg screams its way in. That's why the VanxSora warning has to stay in the summary. I know my mpreg is kind of technical, but I'm the not the kind of guy that can really believe in magical gay baby happenings. The first time I ever read a mpreg I did some research. I don't know if this has ever happened or if I got my technical anatomy jargon right. I asked my boyfriend, though, and he said it sounded okay. But what does he know, anyway? And my dad got his MRI and x-rays done at a Minute Clinic. (Maybe? I suck at listening sometimes. Let's just go with it.)

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it.


	4. Chapter 4

_CHAPTER FOUR_

* * *

Riku gazed at the phone in his hand, then jabbed the green call back button. It was spontaneous, but Sora made him feel that way. Part of him wanted to get the answering machine, but the other, larger part of him wanted to speak with Sora.

"Hello?"

"Sora." Riku was pretty sure he was salivating.

"Riku, is that you?" Sora sounded happy to hear him, but Riku realized he didn't know Sora well enough to be sure.

"Yeah."

"Oh, Riku!" He heard… sniffling? "I'm so glad you called!"

"Me too."

"D'you want to go out with me?"

"Uh." Riku froze. "What?"

"On a date, silly! Let's go dating!"

"I don't think it's phrased quite like that."

"Whatever. Irrelephant much."

"Irrelevant?"

"Let's go on a date. Come pick me up at six tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Okay." Sora said. "Did you hear how I mocked you just then?"

"Yes." Riku frowned. "I'm supposed to ask you out. You—"

"Tough luck, I beatcha to it."

"It's not a competition!"

"Maybe it is. I won this time." Riku heard the teasing in Sora's voice. "I'll text you my address."

"Hey, wait—"

"Ciao, tonto." And Sora hung up. Riku stared at his phone, a bit bewildered. Wasn't this boy ill? Was this what he was like normally? What the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

"Where do you want to go for dinner?" Riku asked Sora, hands buried in his pockets. If he took them out, he might accidently (my ass!) molest the adorable man next to him.

"Oh, anywhere is okay. I just moved here, so I don't really know any places by name." Sora replied jovially. And was he ever so pleased! Riku still wanted him after _two weeks _of separation after a single meeting in which Sora screamed at him like the pregnant man he was. Obviously Sora still had his good looks and charm and Vanny was just an asshole who didn't appreciate him.

The two walked in silence towards Riku's car. It wasn't anything fancy—Riku was a poor student, remember? Actually he was worse than a student—he was a damn _secretary. _But Sora didn't need to know that yet.

"Do you know where we're going?" Sora asked Riku, once they'd settled into Riku's crappy Hyundai.

"Uh, no? I was thinking about a restaurant but I hadn't come up with anything."

"Do you know a good seafood place? I need conch."

"Conch?"

"Yes." Sora replied, deadly serious. "I _need _it."

Riku hummed in response. "What about Mickey's?"

"Is it far?"

"Maybe twenty minutes."

Sora huffed. "We'll need a conch appetizer, then."

Riku nodded, bemused. "Whatever you want."

Mickey's was a semi-formal place that Riku liked in comparison to some of the other date restaurants in the area. It wasn't over the top or swanky, just nice. Good food, a reasonable price, and pretty private tables. A quieter, more romantic atmosphere suitable for couples.

Mickey's was split into two floors: the more casual downstairs, and the slightly more elegant upstairs. Riku knew where he wanted to sit.

Their waiter took the two to the stair table, positioned on a small balcony overlooking the bottom floor that branched from the staircase. It was a really unique spot, and very private because there was only room for a small table with two chairs. It was a good spot for people watching as well as intimate dining.

Riku wasn't sure why he felt the need to impress Sora so badly, but he was sure trying.

The two got comfortable situated on the stairs, and Sora smiled again.

"This place is nice." He commented, looking around at the interior design.

"Yeah." Riku replied. "I like it."

"Do they have conch, though?"

Riku smirked. "I wouldn't have brought you here if they didn't."

And sure enough, Sora almost bounced out of his seat when he saw the menu. "I'm ready to order!" He proclaimed, jabbing his finger at the item. "This!"

Riku selected his usual—red grouper—and listened to Sora's excited babble.

"Conch! I can't believe I just ordered it. It's been a really long time since I've had conch, probably not since I lived in Destiny Islands."

"You lived in Destiny?" Riku asked, surprised. "So did I!"

"No way!" Sora exclaimed, delighted at their connection. "Did you go to Papou elementary?"

"Yes." Riku smirked again. "It was the _only_ elementary."

"I don't remember you, though!"

"Well, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one." Sora replied.

I'm twenty-three." Riku said. "And I moved to Hollow Bastion at the end of elementary school."

"Ah." Sora leaned back in his chair. "We missed each other!"

"We're here now." Riku counter, leaning forward and pressing his chin into his propped up arm. "What brought you to Hallow Bastion?"

"My brother lives here." Sora replied. "And I needed to get away."

"Bad memories?"

"Something like that, yeah." Sora answered, staring down at his cutlery.

"I see." Riku said. He wouldn't pry, but Sora obviously had some baggage. "Your house was very nice."

Sora grinned. "It's my brother's. I live with him and his boything."

"Boything?"

"Yeah, named Leon. They're pretty serious; it's cute." Sora smiled fondly. "It kind of makes me…" He cut off.

"Makes you jealous?" Riku finished.

"A bit, yeah. It's just, they're so compatible. I never would have guessed that Cloud needed a serious guy, because he's already a serious guy, but somehow their relationship isn't just serious business. It's like they lighten up around one another."

"It's nice to have someone that brings out the best side of you."

"Yeah. I guess I'm more than a bit jealous. I've never had a relationship like that."

"I haven't, either."

"I'd like to, though."

"Me too." Riku and Sora smiled coyly at one another.

"So what do you do with your life?" Sora asked.

"I want to be a lawyer." Riku replied.

"So you're in law school?"

"I'm currently working in a law firm to gain some experience." Riku stated with a small grimace-smile. "It's really not enjoyable and I plan to begin law school next semester."

"Ah, I see." Sora replied. "Well, I'm an elementary education major!" He grinned. "I want to teach kindergarten, I think, or first grade."

"The little kids?" Riku smirked.

"We get on pretty well."

"I can see that. You have enough energy to keep up with them."

"Yep." Sora nodded. "I don't know if I'll ever get a class of my own though."

Riku gave him a questioning look, but couldn't continue his line of conversation because the waiter brought out their meals at that exact moment. Riku found Sora's lustful gaze at the conch quite amusing.

"Is conch your favorite food?"

"What? Oh, no. I never liked it as a kid, actually." He dug into the meal with enthusiasm.

"I don't like it at all."

"Well, I was craving."

"Like a pregnant woman?" Riku teased.

Sora gave him a weird look. "You have no idea."

* * *

The dinner went well. Like, really well. Sora had no idea that he and Riku had so much in common. They both were from the Islands, so they shared a strong love of seafood. They both really liked blitzball. They both loved Lady Gaga and could recite her songs from memory. Sora had almost died at Riku's version of "Love Game", especially the disco stick part.

Sora was fidgeting in Riku's car. It was seriously one of the best dates he'd ever been on, and his best first date by far. But was Riku going to kiss him?

They arrived at Cloud's townhouse with Sora still fretting. Riku got out of the Hyundai as well and walked Sora to the steps.

"Thanks for dinner." Sora mumbled shyly.

"You're welcome." Riku lightly ran his fingers down the side of Sora's soft face. And Sora clenched his eyes shut with anticipation.

Then his face relaxed as Riku pressed a kiss to his forehead. Sora looked up with surprised expression.

Riku gave him a rare grin and ran his hand through Sora's spikes. "You think you won." He smirked. "You haven't seen the last of me. This isn't over."

And Riku was gone.

"He sounds like some creepy movie villain..." Sora muttered. He was blushing profusely, anyway.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm afraid I haven't had much free time this week (hence the short, fluffy, and no-plot-really-at-all chapter) but hopefully I'll get around to it. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

_CHAPTER FIVE_

_

* * *

_

Cloud was not oblivious to the dazed grin adorning Sora's face the Saturday morning after his date. His brunette brother was waltzing around the kitchen island while cooking eggs. Leon, sitting at the table reading the paper, was completely ignoring Sora's dance number. How very Leon of him.

"Sora, what are you doing?"

"Eggs over easy!" Sora replied cheerfully, moving over to the frying pan and flipping the egg blob to the other side. "You want some?"

"Sure." Cloud walked over to the table and took a seat next to his boyfriend. Leon glanced up from the paper and sent Cloud a smirk. Cloud rolled his eyes. "Give me the sports section."

Leon only raised an eyebrow.

"Give me the sports section, _please._"

"No problem."

Sora made a squealing noise. "_Omigod_, you two are the cutest _ever!_" This prompted Leon to roll his eyes and flip to the next page of the business section.

Cloud, however, turned towards Sora and glared. "Why are you being so cheerful? And why are you even awake at eight? I thought you would be sleeping?"

"Is it not sleeping when my conscious thoughts are such dreams?" Sora swooned, the spatula draped dramatically across his forehead.

"You're a dumbass."

"I am not! I am very romantically poetic this morning, thank you!"

Cloud decided he couldn't win and turned his attention towards the sports section instead. It was hard to focus when Sora started singing. It wasn't even a real song, just Sora's thoughts put to a random tune.

"Last night was awesooome! I can't believeeee he onleeee kissed me on the heaaad!" Sora sashayed across the floor. "I can't beeelieve Riku likes meeee!"

"I can't either." Leon said.

Sora pouted. "You're mean. You aren't getting any eggs."

"Good. They're overcooked. You should have taken them off the frying pan ten minutes ago."

Sora rushed to the stove. "You're right. These can be Cloud's."

"Hey!"

* * *

"Cloud? Hey, Cloud?" Sora peeked his head into the living room where Cloud was engrossed in a book. Leon sat on the other side of the room, tapping away at his laptop and sipping coffee.

"Yes, Sora?"

"Do you want to go shopping today?"

Cloud froze. Leon caught his eye and sent him a smirk.

"I mean, _baby stuff, _Cloud! It's cute! And snuggly! And I want to go shopping for it before I'm a gigantic whale and can't go anywhere."

Cloud did not reply. Maybe if he was totally still, Sora wouldn't see him? Maybe?

"Cloud would love to go with you." Cloud sent Leon an incredulous look. Leon was unapologetic.

"Thanks, Cloud! You're the best. I'll be ready in like 5 minutes! I have to pee again, go figure. I think my bladder is the size of a peanut."

Cloud huffed when Sora left the room. "Damn you, Leonhart."

"I love you, too."

* * *

"Do you think I should have a baby shower? I mean, maybe! Then I could open a registry and not have to buy all this shit! Ha ha!" Sora cackled to himself for a moment. Cloud rolled his eyes.

Okay, if Cloud was honest with himself, the shopping trip so far had been pretty entertaining. Not nearly as bad as he expected. And Sora had been right; the baby stuff was really cute. Cloud was particularly fond of this one jungle animal print. The background was two different shades of green: there were light-colored leaves and then the rest was a slightly darker green. And then the fabric was covered in cute animals, like lions, giraffes, elephants, and tigers. It was really cute. Cloud was a little embarrassed by how much he liked it.

"Cloooud! Earth to Cloud!" Cloud was abruptly ripped from his cute thoughts when Sora began kicking his shin. "C'mon, Cloud. You've been staring at this crib for _ages_ and I want to go look at car seats."

"Okay."

Sora grinned and latched on to Cloud's arm.

* * *

Cloud liked the jungle print best, but Sora liked the racecar print. It was mostly white and covered in _cars._ It was cool. He explained this to Cloud, who looked at Sora with a raised brow.

"And what if you have a girl?"

Sora's mouth fell open. "Omigod. _Omigod!_ I know nothing about girls! I can't have a girl!"

Cloud looked around suspiciously. "Keep your voice down." He muttered.

Sora panicked, but quietly. "_I can't have a girl! They have vaginas!_"

"Of course they have vaginas. That's what makes them girls."

"_I DON'T LIKE VAGINAS!" _Sora shrieked, much to Cloud's dismay. Several ladies in the surrounding area began to titter, very amused.

"Then for your baby's sake, I hope he's a boy." Cloud replied.

"Me too. I'd love her anyway, but I'd be really scared I'd screw her up."

"I don't think you'd screw her up."

Sora sighed. "Still. I don't think I could handle the emotional puberty stuff."

"That's way in the future. Focus on one day at a time. You'd be just fine." Cloud reassured him. Cloud amused himself with the thought that Sora had plenty of experience with emotional stuff.

Sora finally made a decision. "I want the damn racecars. And the dark wood cradle and matching changing table."

Cloud sighed. The lighter wood one really went better with the jungle print…

* * *

Leon knew that Sora didn't have the funds to live on his own, especially with a baby on the way. But he also knew, because Sora was going to have a baby and Cloud was going to quickly become enamored with the thing, that he and Cloud would be adopting sooner rather than later.

Leon was okay with that, and he was okay with Sora living with him. He figured that Cloud wouldn't like staying at home, and that Sora would end up their live-in nanny who took care of his own kid as well as theirs.

The kids would eventually need their own rooms. Currently, the townhouse was big enough for the three of them, but prices were low due to the current housing climate and Leon figured that now was a pretty good time to buy.

He sent Cloud with Sora for this very purpose. He wanted to surprise his lover and the brother.

Leon had dropped the pair off at the baby store, and then headed directly to an open house for a home he found on the Internet earlier that morning.

It was the right size—five smaller bedrooms, two master suites, one large kitchen, a large dining room, a large living room, a pool, and a large bonus room. It was quite a bit higher than his original price range, but he was individually wealthy. He never advertised his wealth because people in the past had befriended him for that reason alone. Cloud didn't know anything about Leon's money, only that he'd had the townhouse when they first got together. And Cloud loved him for who he was, not for the fact he was the sole heir to Laguna's massive fortune.

So Leon decided to go ahead and splurge on the expensive home. Why the hell not? What else was he going to buy?

He offered the full asking price, and the house was his in a matter of minutes.

* * *

"Leon?" Cloud said into his phone, "we're done."

"On my way. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Leon replied.

"Thanks, love." Cloud smiled. Leon hung up on him and Cloud laughed.

* * *

Sora was very happy. He had a car seat. He had a crib. He had a changing table. He had a stroller. And they all matched with cute little racecars. Sora liked the racecars.

What he didn't know was how they were going to get in all in Leon's car. Sora was surprised when Leon showed up in not his car, but a pickup truck.

Cloud looked at the truck, then back at Leon. "You borrowed it from Irvine?"

"I thought it might come it handy."

Cloud smiled. "Thoughtful."

"Someone around here has to be." Leon smiled back.

Sora watched as Leon and Cloud loaded his baby stuff into the back of the pickup. "Thank you guys." He whispered, near tears.

Cloud glanced at Sora. "Sora, I told you it was okay. It's what big brothers do; take care of their silly little brothers who somehow manage to get knocked up."

Sora sniffled. "I know, but you're paying for all this and I have no idea how to ever thank you enough."

Cloud jumped down from the truck and pressed a quick kiss to Sora's head. "You just did."

Cloud helped Sora get into the passenger seat of the truck, then hopped into the backseat. Leon drove them off, but not towards their house.

Sora glanced at Cloud, but Cloud looked just as confused.

"Leon?" Sora said.

"Yes?"

"Where are we going?"

Leon grinned smugly. "You'll see."

* * *

Cloud was confused when Leon pulled into the… the _mansion_. He'd never seen a house so large. He had no idea the suburb Radiant Garden was so _nice._ He looked at Leon, and Leon just looked smug.

Sora was staring, too. "What is this? My feet hurt too much for a tour of a fancy historical place!"

"It's not a fancy historical place." Leon said. "It's not old enough."

"They hurt too much for a tour of a gigantic McMansion!"

"Even if it's our McMansion?" Leon replied.

Cloud shot Leon an incredulous look. Sora was delighted. "OMIGODNOWAYREALLY?" He squealed. "I must go look!"

Leon tossed Sora a key and the brunette was off like a rocket. Cloud looked absolutely shocked, and more than a little irritated.

Leon hadn't anticipated the irritation.

"Leon," Cloud began, "look, it's really kind of you to think of us like this." Cloud paused, seeming at a loss for words.

"Just tell me." Leon stated.

"We can't afford this!" Cloud burst out. "Leon, this is _insane._ I bet the mortgage on the house alone is five thousand a month. We can't afford it. That's sixty thousand a year, Leon, not including water and electricity and air conditioning! I don't even make sixty thousand dollars a year!"

"It's paid in full." Leon replied.

Cloud looked at Leon, flabbergasted. "H-How, Leon, _what?_"

"I said it's paid in full. No mortgage to worry about."

"_Did you sell your soul?_" Cloud sounded distraught. "This is ridiculous, Leon! How did you get that kind of cash?"

Leon realized that Cloud was beginning to panic and pulled his blonde into a hug.

"I told you my parents are dead."

"I know." Cloud said quietly.

"Hush, let me finish." Leon whispered. "My father was the first CEO of Esthar Corporation."

Cloud gaped. "No way."

"Yes way." Leon smirked, amused at his boyfriend's expression. "When he died, the company chose a new president. However, as his son, I inherited his money as well as his stock in Esthar."

"Holy shit."

"Holy shit, indeed."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cloud murmured.

"Because I wanted you to love me for me, not because I was filthy rich." Leon replied, a little sheepish about his confession.

"I do." Cloud said, running his hand down the side of Leon's face. "I really love you."

"I know you do."

Cloud turned his attention to the house. "So it's really…"

"Ours. Yes."

"Oh my god." Cloud said. "Oh my god, you're buying me a Ducati."

Leon laughed.

* * *

A/N: I know it's late! My goal was for this past weekend! Argh! TerraxVen distracted me, okay? I'm not sorry. I really like my TerraxVen story. Better late than never, right? Right. Thanks for reading. I hope you liked the chapter!

PS: Ducati is awesome. It's a motorcycle brand. If you've never heard of it, google "Ducati." The 2011 carbon Diavel is my current favorite. I like the superbikes, too. I don't own the company at all. I wish. Haha.


	6. Chapter 6

_CHAPTER SIX_

_

* * *

_

Sora decided that living in a mansion was the best thing _ever. _ There were seven bedrooms—_seven_! Who cared if they were going to only use three of them? Not Sora! Sora's favorite thing was the fact that there were two master suites. That's right, two! One for Cloud and Leon and one just for Sora!

Sora was so excited he could barely stand it. After a five minute whirlwind tour, he rushed back outside onto the lawn.

"When are we moving?" He exclaimed. "Can we move now?"

Leon and Cloud just looked at him, so Sora decided to elaborate. "It's very big, but it doesn't have our stuff because we haven't moved it. So can we move it?"

Leon opened his mouth to say something, but Sora was on a roll.

"By the way, which bedroom is yours 'cause there's one I like, you see, but you guys have seniority and there's the whole 'you bought it' thing, so you get to pick first! But I want one of the big ones! And did you know the house has a sunroom? I've always wanted a sunroom! We can grow plants in it! Like a greenhouse! But a greenroom! I'm so excited; I think I need to go look at it again! Be right back!" Sora danced away.

Cloud looked at Leon. "I guess we need to go stake a claim?"

"Apparently."

"He'd probably claim every bedroom if he could."

"Probably."

"However, he's right about our belongings." Cloud turned to Leon with a questioning look. "I have a feeling you took care of it?"

Leon smirked. "Movers will be here in about thirty minutes."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you. This is so crazy. Why haven't you, I don't know, run away to Tahiti or something?"

Leon just pressed a quick kiss to Cloud's lips. "I'm good, thanks."

Cloud blushed furiously and turned away so Leon wouldn't see. "We need to go get a room." He stated as he walked away. "Come on, Leonhart."

Leon grinned and followed him. "We need to get a room?"

"Shut up! I meant it literally."

* * *

Sora was delighted to learn that several strong men were coming to carry his belongings into the house.

"Yay!" He squealed. "I don't have to carry anything!" Of course, when the movers came, Sora's indecision about the placement of his furniture drove them crazy. They didn't say anything, though, because Leon was paying them well. They just sent each other sympathetic looks.

"No, over here is no good. I liked the bed better against that wall, the one with the chest. Can you move the bookshelf over so the chest can go there and then the bed can go to where the chest was?

"Actually, wait. I changed my mind.

"No, no. I was right before."

By the end of the weekend, the house was what Cloud dubbed "good enough." Aside from the bedrooms, the house was empty and Sora wanted to go on a quest for furniture and other such household oddities. Leon, to save his boyfriend a lot of unnecessary shopping pain, decided to hire an interior design team. Needless to say, Leon got laid.

* * *

Sora discovered the baby was kicking the hard way. He was trying to decide where to place the diaper genie in the baby's room when he felt a nudge in his tummy. He looked down, bewildered. And then it happened again, a lot harder, and Sora gasped and screamed for Cloud.

Cloud came running because he was an overprotective older brother. "What's wrong, Sora?"

"My organs are fighting meee!" Sora cried.

Cloud immediately stopped worrying. Why was he worried in the first place? This was _Sora_ he was talking about. Sora panicked over everything, the little hypochondriac. "Your organs are fighting you." He repeated, monotone. "Have they ever fought you before?"

"No! Never! Why are they rebelling now?"

"Can you think of anything that might cause an organ rebellion?" Cloud bent down and placed his hands on Sora's slightly swollen tummy. He fought a grin when he felt a kick. He looked up at Sora, whose face was the definition of concentration.

"…" Sora thought. "…Could it be something I ate?"

"I doubt it. Try again. Something recent, something _life-changing…_" Cloud attempted.

"Like…living in a mansion?" Sora blinked.

Cloud decided to take pity on his brother. "Maybe," he began quietly, "it's because you're pregnant."

"Why would—" Sora's eyes got huge. "Holy crap! Of course it is! Baby! Inside! Moving! Ahhh!" He squealed, tossing Cloud's hands away and replacing them with his own. "Omigod!" He exclaimed when he felt a kick. "Omigod, this is _incredible._"

Cloud smiled.

However, Sora was feeling a little guilty because it was becoming harder and harder to ignore the craving and the puking ("morning" sickness was a relative term, he had discovered) and the newly discovered feeling of his baby smacking him from the inside just increased his list of obvious pregnancy symptoms. He was still feeling giddy from his excellent date with Riku, but the baby was a huge part of his life. He or she was always going to be a huge part of Sora's life, and Riku deserved to know.

Would Riku be mad that Sora was pregnant? Sora wasn't sure. It wasn't the baby's fault Vanitas was his or her father. It was Sora's fault. Sora hadn't meant to get pregnant—hell, he hadn't even known that this sort of shit was even humanly _possible_—but he had warmed up to the idea.

Regardless of the fact Vanny was its father, Sora was going to love and care for his baby like no other parent on the planet. Baby would be _blown away _by Sora's mad parenting skills. His baby was going to be the happiest baby ever. Baby wouldn't want for anything. Sora would take such good care of baby and baby would always come first.

Riku needed to know that. If Riku wasn't going to accept baby, too, then they were going to be over. Sora nodded decisively. His baby was much more important than his budding relationship with Riku. Riku was really important, too, but this was his _baby. _No boy ever got to experience something like this. Sora wasn't going to let his baby go because he was afraid. His baby deserved much better.

Speaking of "his baby," Sora had started to become tired of referring to baby as "baby." Vexen hadn't been able to determine the baby's gender at his last check up, so Sora still couldn't name his baby.

That didn't mean he hadn't been thinking about names. He liked really odd names for some reason: Xemnas, Demyx, and Zexion were just a few on his long list.

His favorite name was Roxas. If his baby was a boy, he was going to be Roxas. Boom. Named. If his baby was a girl, he'd just name her Roxanne.

Decision made! It felt good. Sora grinned when he felt a small kick.

"Hello, Roxas." Sora cooed to his belly. "I'm your daddy. We're going to be just fine, you and me. I promise."

* * *

Sora had to tell Riku. Today. "For Roxas." He muttered to himself.

Riku had called him on Sunday and they arranged for a lunch date later that week. Sora was nervous and it showed. While he was waiting for Riku, he fidgeted in his chair. He rearranged the salt and pepper shakers. He counted the sugar packets. Riku raised a brow at Sora's behavior when he sat down at their table.

"You okay?"

Sora jumped. "What, me? Hahaha." He laughed nervously. "Never better. So how are you, Riku?"

Riku nodded, a little bemused. "I'm good. And you?"

"Nervous." Sora blurted out. "I'm nervous. I need to tell you something big."

Riku's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Not subtle, I see."

"No." Sora took a deep breath and tried to release tension on his exhale. "Riku, I need you to believe me."

"Okay."

"No, I mean, after I say what I say, you need to give me a chance. To explain it. Okay?"

Riku nodded, a bit suspicious.

"I'm pregnant." Sora whispered, looking at Riku with frightened eyes.

Riku had not been expecting that. "_What?_" He said, sure he'd misheard.

Sora bit his lip. "I'm pregnant." He repeated. "Let me talk?"

Riku nodded, but didn't respond verbally. He was too shocked. Sora seemed to realize this and didn't begin his explanation.

"Why don't you ask me questions?" He said. "That might make it easier?"

"Yeah." Riku's head fell into his hands and he massaged his forehead. "Just give me a minute. It's a lot to take in." Riku took a moment to gather his thoughts. "When did you first find out about… this?"

"Awhile ago."

"And how far along are you?"

"You know, I would be asking more theoretical questions. Like, for instance, 'how the fuck did that even happen, Sora?'"

"You aren't lying, are you?" Riku gazed curiously at Sora. "You can't be. You wouldn't. Not about something as farfetched as this. Why would you lie about this? You're serious. Deadly serious."

"Yes."

"And you're telling me because you know it affects our relationship. Of course it does. It isn't my child."

"He's Vanny's."

"Vanny is your ex-boyfriend, the one you're trying to get away from."

"I'd like to think that I have gotten away from him, thanks. We're over. He's ancient history. Are you going to tell me you don't have ex-lovers?"

"And yet you are keeping his child." Riku replied. "You don't want to have any sort of association with Vanny, which is why you've never mentioned him before. You left him, but you're keeping the baby."

"It's not the baby's fault."

"No, but the child will be a constant reminder of that failed relationship. You loved Vanny, didn't you?"

"Yes. But that's the past, Riku. I've stopped loving him; he was no good to me or for me. He wouldn't be good for my baby."

"Why haven't you gotten rid of his child? It's completely unnatural. Men don't have children."

Sora was irritated. "You're forgetting that it's my baby, too. And my body. You can think it unnatural, but I think it's a miracle. And I'm not asking for your approval, Riku—"

"It's unhealthy. You might be at risk for infection or miscarriage that could end up fatal."

"I don't care. I've consulted a doctor and I've made my decision. I'm letting you know that the baby is staying."

Riku and Sora stared at each other, each unrelenting.

"An ultimatum." Riku whispered, resting his chin on his hand. "Either I accept the child as a part of our relationship, or there is no relationship."

"Yes." Sora's gaze was firm.

"I see. What an unusual predicament we find ourselves in." Riku replied, leaning back and crossing his hands in front of his chest.

"You believe me." Sora began. "But you're having trouble with the fact I've decided to keep Roxas?"

"You've named it." Riku stated, deadpanned.

"It's not an 'it'." Sora seethed. "Roxas is my _child_. My _baby."_

"And another man's."

"I can't believe this." Sora muttered to himself. "I was so prepared for you not believe me…"

"I'm not sure I do believe you, but there's no alternative explanation." Riku said. "I need proof. And I don't understand why you want to keep it."

"Roxas."

"Fine, Roxas."

"I'm keeping my baby because I can. Who are you to tell me I should get rid of him?"

"I didn't say I wanted you to get an abortion—"

"You implied it!"

"So I did. I don't know, Sora." Riku sighed heavily. "This is fucking insane. We've known each other for what?"

"About a month." Sora mumbled.

"At the most. And if you were, you know, how far along would you be?"

"About four months."

"And how old are you, again?"

"Twenty-one." Sora's voice was soft.

"And you expect to raise this thing on your own?"

"He's not a _thing._ Stop it."

"You don't even have a job. You can't even take care of yourself and you've decided to have a kid?"

Sora's bottom lip trembled, but he reigned in his emotions. "I don't believe you." Sora hissed.

"I think that's my line." Riku replied, one brow raised. "I like you, Sora. A lot. I really do. But Sora, we're just dating. You aren't even my boyfriend." Riku said bluntly. "If it were my kid, maybe."

"So that's it, then." Sora whispered, staring at his tasteless meal instead of meeting Riku's gaze.

"It was your ultimatum. I've made my decision."

"I won't give up Roxas for you." Sora whispered. "But I can't even begin to describe how very disappointed I am, Riku."

"You're the one that's knocked up at twenty-one if we're talking about disappointment." Riku shot back, wounded.

Sora blinked away tears at Riku's callous words. "I see."

Riku grabbed his coat and left twenty-five dollars on the table to cover his part of the meal. He didn't think he could sit there and watch Sora cry.

* * *

A/N: I prefer my mpreg reactions realistic. Will Riku come around? I guess we'll (read: you'll) have to wait and find out. I'm back on my proper posting schedule, though. Thanks for reading!

PS: Even if it's just "RIKU SUX", let me know what you think. When no one says anything, I assume people didn't like it.


	7. Chapter 7

_CHAPTER SEVEN_

_

* * *

_

Doctor Vexen, much to the relief of everyone who knew Sora, confirmed Sora's suspicion that the baby was a boy at Sora's next prenatal appointment.

However, the knowledge brought a baby name war upon the Strife household. Leon, when asked for input, suggested that Sora should name the child Leech.

"Leon!" Sora had reprimanded. "That is not a good name!"

"It's not a name. It's a vocation."

"Well, who asked you!"

"You did."

Leon exited the war smoothly. Cloud was stuck on the name Ventus, liking the link between Sora's "sky" and Ventus' "wind." Sora thought Ventus was too old fashioned while Cloud argued Roxas was too childish.

"But Ventus is too old-personish!" Sora whined.

"You can call him Ven when he's little."

"Roxas is a fine name."

"It is, but I still think it's not very professional."

Sora sulked. "But I _like_ it."

"That's what matters." Leon butted in.

Cloud sighed. "I'm just expressing concern for the child's future—"

"Roxas is cute! Who doesn't like the name Roxas? Nobody!" Sora spat, crossing his hands in front of his chest in a position of defiance.

These discussions happened frequently and Sora left them pouting. Cloud had a feeling he was making ground.

Until Sora had "Roxas" embroidered on all the racecar-printed items.

"What did you do that for?" Cloud sulked.

"I should think it would be obvious." Sora replied, grinning. "Roxas wins!"

Cloud had known that Sora would name the baby Roxas and had simply perpetuated the name war so that Sora's thoughts wouldn't be centered on Riku. After all the items were embroidered, Sora realized he was no longer distracted. The name war had maybe taken three days. Then Sora helped the interior design team decorate a few rooms over the weekend.

And then Monday morning rolled around. Leon and Cloud were at work and the designers were working on the actual design aspect of their project, not the movement of furniture. Sora didn't feel like watching television. He didn't want to watch a movie. He didn't want to read.

Sora used his new spiffy iHome remote to turn on his iPod. He didn't care what he listened to; he just needed some white noise. He found himself dramatically sprawled across his new king-sized mattress in his master suite.

Sora wanted to mope.

He sighed melodramatically. Riku's accusations had stung because they reflected Sora's own fears. He was only twenty-one, barely an adult himself, and he was preparing to raise a child.

Sora felt very fortunate that he had Cloud and Leon for support. Cloud's he had expected, but Leon's was a great blessing. Sora knew he'd be okay. Cloud wasn't going to let him starve on the streets. He was going to be okay, he kept repeating to himself.

Maybe a little lonely, though. Sora sighed again. He was jealous of his older brother. Not that Cloud had done anything wrong, and it wasn't that Sora wanted Leon at all. Not that Leon was unattractive or anything! It was just their relationship was so _easy._ They just meshed. Sora was so envious.

He'd thought that he and Riku had a similar meshing, but then Roxas came along. It was NOT Roxas' fault. Sora would never blame his child for something like that. It was just the circumstances surrounding Roxas' presence that made Sora's life a bit difficult.

Sora snorted. He was sprawled on a squishy new mattress in a mansion with seven bedrooms. His life wasn't difficult. He would be able to take care of his baby just fine.

The biggest thing that haunted him was the loneliness. But then Sora realized something.

"I'm being a bit stupid, aren't I?" He murmured aloud, rubbing his stomach protectively. "I'm not really alone. You'll be here before I know it, and then I'll feel stupid for not enjoying the quiet while it lasted.

"Not that I regret it, mind you." Sora smiled. "You can scream and cry as much as you want, but I have a feeling you'll be a good baby."

Then something struck Sora. He had a pile of baby books in the corner of his room that he had yet to read.

"Okay!" He roused himself. "If I'm to be a good daddy, I should probably get studying."

* * *

Riku wasn't proud of himself.

He found himself constantly going back to his conversation with Sora, combing through the details and trying to come to terms with a few facts.

1. Sora was a man.

Riku knew this, of course. Sora was so obviously male. His facial structure was masculine. His muscle tone was that of a male, even if Sora was a bit short. And Riku wasn't attracted to girls because he was gay. Therefore, Sora had to be a boy because Riku found him attractive.

2. Males didn't get pregnant.

They just didn't. Riku had never heard of such a ridiculous idea. If Sora was pregnant, Riku didn't understand why he had decided to keep it. Sora obviously was emotionally attached already, but there were plenty of options for gay couples: adoption, or even finding a surrogate mother if Sora was so keen on it being "his baby." Riku was mostly concerned about Sora's health.

While Sora's doctor had claimed it wasn't bad, Riku hadn't heard anything about it being good, either. He had called it unnatural not because he thought Sora was a freak, but because it was simply not the way nature intended for pregnancies to occur. It just wasn't _right_, Riku decided. Sora's life was at risk!

Riku thought that keeping the baby was a bad medical decision, not a bad moral decision.

He realized that he had come off as an ass to Sora. That hadn't been his intention. Wasn't a guy allowed to be concerned? Especially over something rare like this?

A baby was extremely intrusive and Sora's body wasn't made to handle that kind of stress. Regardless of what the doctor said, Riku thought Sora was putting himself in danger unnecessarily. It was just dangerous and Riku wasn't going to attach himself to someone who was so blasé about his health.

If Riku had made the right decision, why did he feel like such an asshole?

* * *

Sora hadn't learned much at all from reading his baby books. They were kind of boring. He maybe should be more concerned about this, but really it didn't seem too hard.

Except for the whole "birth" thing. He didn't have a vagina (thank fucking god!) and so he'd have to have a C-section. And while the doctor was c-sectioning Sora wanted them to go ahead and take out his uterus. He didn't need a fucking uterus. He wasn't going to breastfeed, either (he didn't know if it was possible. He didn't _want_ to know if it was possible.).

There was, however, one thing he read that scared him.

The section on multiples. _Twins._ What if he had twins? Sora hadn't even thought of that. He Googled "signs of twins."

Was he overweight? No. Was he over the age of thirty-five? No. Was the baby conceived via IVF? Sora didn't know what that was, so obviously not. Unless "IVF" was short for "insertion via fucking," in which case the answer was yes. But that's where all babies came from?

Sora wasn't very good at this.

"Are you measuring bigger than you should be?" The website asked. "Big bellies can mean multiple babies." Sora didn't know; he had nothing to compare to except his old, flat belly.

He wasn't huge or anything. Just a swell, like he was getting a pot-belly from drinking too much beer. Not that he was drinking beer. He knew that much about pregnancy.

"Did the doctor find two heart beats instead of one?" Sora didn't know. Vexen did all sorts of tests, and Sora didn't really pay attention to most of them. He wanted to know if he was healthy and if the baby was healthy. As long as Vexen answered affirmative, Sora didn't bother with all the little details.

But maybe two babies would have shown up in his ultrasound picture by now? Unless one baby was a ninja.

Sora wasn't sure if he could handle a ninja baby. He had enough trouble keeping track of things anyway.

He had become accustomed to feeling exhausted, but that was a symptom. And lots of puking too? Sora did his fair share of puking, but lately his morning sickness had abated. It was apparently more of a first trimester thing. He was heading into the second trimester.

Like college for babies, what with all the "mesters" and such.

Sora wondered what Roxas would look like. He wondered what Roxas would be like. Would Roxas be bubbly like him? Would Roxas be a grump like Vanny? No. Sora wouldn't allow him to be a grump!

Sora vainly hoped that Roxas had his eyes. Sora loved the color of his eyes. All babies were born with blue eyes, but Sora hoped they'd stay blue.

There was so much to think about! How could Sora have been bored earlier?

Sora got up and crossed his room, walking down the hallway to the room on the right. Roxas' nursery. It was a light blue color and Sora had sponged clouds onto the wall. Leon found Sora's decision amusing and teased Cloud about it. The crib was wedged between two single windows. The changing table was next to the door with the diaper genie nearby (Sora wasn't stupid!). But Sora loved the newest addition.

It was a rocking-gliding chair. Sora liked it very much. It was squishy and comfy and Sora was positive it'd get a lot of use. He sat down in the chair and sighed happily.

A hand crept its way onto his belly. He took a deep breath and snuggled into the fabric.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until Cloud gentled prodded him awake.

"Dinner's ready."

"Oh. Wow. Already?" Sora replied. "What time is it?"

"It's six-thirty."

"I just slept for seven hours." Sora blinked, and then yawned.

"You needed it. You still look pretty wiped."

"Hm." Sora allowed Cloud to pull him to his feet. "Are we having pickles?"

"What?"

"Pickles. I need some."

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Riku sat at his kitchen table alone, gazing at his cell phone. His contact list was open, hovering above the entry "Sora Strife."

Riku hadn't been able to focus at work today. He'd missed a couple of calls. Loz had even commented on his behavior, claiming that Riku looked a little blank.

Riku's thoughts were centered on Sora, and his pregnancy specifically.

What had caused Sora's mysterious illness? The baby.

What caused Sora to call him later than he expected? The baby.

Why had Sora even craved peanut M&Ms in the first place? The baby.

Riku was so dumb. The baby had been affecting their relationship from the moment it began; he just hadn't known it. Now that he knew—well, it was so obvious.

And Sora was right: it wasn't Riku's decision to make. Sora had told him about the baby because Sora wanted Riku to accept it. He wanted Riku to be a part of the child's life, but only if Riku was willing.

Why hadn't he seen that?

Cup noodles had never been so tasteless. Riku glared down at his food like it was the reason for all his inner turmoil.

And then he glanced up at his phone. He needed advice. He shoved his noodles to the side and scrolled through his contacts. He smiled at the name.

_Kairi Sinclair. _

He dialed.

"Hello?"

"Kai, is that you?"

"Who else would answer my phone?"

"Uh, I don't know? Mr. Sinclair, maybe?"

"Leave Reno out of this."

Riku grinned. "Why?"

"Riku, I mean it." Kairi growled.

"Fine. I'm just amazed that you're still together."

"We're _married_, you dumbass. And we have a two year old! Really, Riku."

"You poor thing."

He could hear her roll her eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Kairi, I think I screwed up."

"Should I be surprised?"

_

* * *

_

A/N: I like Kairi. She's here to stay. I also use FF characters like other people use OCs, just tossing 'em in. I have no idea where the name Reno Sinclair originated. I Googled Reno and it came up (as well as stuff about multiplet pregnancy; thanks Google, you're the best.)

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. I also hope you will review. Look at me, such a review slut. I put out for reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

_CHAPTER EIGHT_

_

* * *

_

_"Should I be surprised?_"

"Leave off, Kai. You remember a boy named Sora?"

"Sora Strife! Of course I remember Sora, we were neighbors!"

"Oh god, really?"

"Yes! Now tell your fag hag all about your love troubles."

"How do you know I'm having…?"

"Riku, please. You're a very smart man, but you're really dumb sometimes. Why else would you call me? It's not like you want to come over and play with the baby—"

"Who does? Axel is a fucking _monster!_"

"He is not. He's just inquisitive."

"Right."

"What's up with Sora? Are you two dating?"

"We were."

"You were. And you'd screwed it up, I'm guessing."

Riku sighed. "Kairi, can you keep a secret?"

"Of course. I haven't told anyone you're gay, have I?"

"Sora's pregnant."

"_What the fuck did you just say?"_

"You're the one with the baby, Mrs. Potty mouth."

"Oh my god." Riku listened as Kairi shuffled around, most likely making dinner. "Last I heard he had moved to Keyblade graveplace or something to be with his boyfriend."

"They broke up, but not before he got knocked up."

"Good." Kairi huffed. "His boyfriend was an ass. I met him once. You'd be much better for Sora."

"Well, about that…"

"I see we've reached the reason you called me."

"I may have expressed my concern about the child." Riku continued to explain the situation to his friend.

"…so you basically told him to get an abortion."

"It could possibly be phrased in such a manner."

"Cut the bull, Riku. You said that? To sweet little Sora?"

"He's only two years younger than us."

"I'll always remember him at four. I wonder if his baby will be that fat? And by the way, Riku," Kairi's tone darkened and Riku winced. "There is _nothing _wrong with having a baby at twenty-one!"

"You were married, Kairi—"

"So? I was still young. Are you saying I've been a bad parent?"

"No Kai, not at all—"

"Then stop making the same assumptions about Sora!" She exclaimed. "Wait—Sora's here? In Hollow Bastion?"

"Yes."

"I'll have to call him! What's his number?"

"Kairi, that's not what we were talking about."

"Look, mister. I'm not the one who fucked up your relationship. You need to apologize. Until then, I can't help you."

Riku sighed. And Kairi bullied him into giving her Sora's number.

* * *

Sora was resting in his bed reading when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and was surprised to see a number he didn't recognize.

"Uh, hello?"

"Sora!"

"Kairi?" Sora was shocked. "What—_Kairi! _How are you? I haven't seen you since your wedding!"

"Which was forever ago! How are you, little neighbor?"

Sora laughed. "I'm good! Great, really! How'd you find me?"

"Riku."

Sora's grin faded. "…oh."

"Sora, he told me something else, too."

"What?"

"You're expecting."

Sora blinked. "Expecting what?"

"…just as oblivious as ever. The _baby_, Sora."

"Oh!" Sora bit his lip. "Right. That."

"Yes, that. Don't you worry about a thing. I won't tell anyone."

"I know, Kairi. I trust you, it's just…" Sora drifted off, disappointed in Riku.

"You didn't make him promise not to tell anyone. He wouldn't have broken a promise, even for me."

"I should have." Sora responded. "I just thought he wouldn't. Honestly I thought he'd shove it from his mind and get as far away as possible from the freak."

"You are not a freak! Stop thinking of yourself like that. And it's only me. I won't sell you out, and if Riku does I'll sic Axel on him."

Sora hummed, a slight smile on his lips. "Whatever you say. Is Axel that frightening?"

"He is to Riku. I think kids just scare him." The two old friends paused, and Sora let the full implication of that statement settle into his head for further examination. "Now, tell me where you live! I'm coming over!"

Sora was surprised. "What, now?"

"Yes!"

"But, Kairi—"

"No buts! Address now, buddy!"

Sora gave in. He knew better than to argue with Kairi.

"Radiant Garden, huh?" She commented. "How'd you afford a place there?"

"Cloud's boything."

"I never thought of Cloud as a gold digger."

Sora burst out laughing. "I'll tell him you said that!"

* * *

Sora was so happy to see Kairi, but he was even happier to meet Axel. The little redhead was two and adorable. It made Sora crave to hold his own baby in his arms.

"Hello there, Axel! I've heard a lot about you. How are you today?"

"I'm good. Do you got cream?"

"No Axel, we are not having ice cream this early in the day." Kairi ruffled her son's hair. "Why don't you color?"

Axel huffed. "Boring."

"Or you could go explore?" Sora said.

Kairi gave Sora a look. Axel grinned deviously and took off before Kairi could reply. She sighed.

"Motherhood is not for wimps." She told Sora.

"Good thing I'm going to be a dad, then." He replied.

* * *

To say Kairi and Sora had enough to talk about would be an understatement; Kairi was excited to hear that Sora was expecting a boy and delighted in sharing her experience as well as several stories about Axel, and Sora was grateful for her obvious acceptance and support.

"So, how'd you even get preggers anyway?"

Sora laughed. "Guess."

"Vanitas nailed you hard?"

"Kairi!" Sora was scandalized. "What if Axel heard you?"

She shrugged. "He wouldn't get it. He's two, Sora. Getting nailed to him means getting hit with a ball."

"Still." Sora sniffed.

Kairi sent him a small smirk. "But you haven't denied it."

"I have an uterus." Sora blurted.

"Say what?"

"An uterus."

"You? With a babymaker?"

"Yep."

Kairi made a face. "If he nailed you in the butt, how did his sperm get out of your rectum?"

Sora didn't think he'd ever blushed so hard. "I don't know."

"Did the sperm mutate and pass through your intestinal walls? Can that even happen?"

"I guess so."

"Hm." Kairi took a sip of water from the bottle she had stashed in Axel's fire truck-themed diaper bag. "Unless he nailed you so hard he ruptured your—"

"Kairi, that is enough speculation!" Sora shrieked.

"What?" She said innocently. "I'm just curious."

"Well, look. It happened, okay? If you're really that curious, I'll give you my doctor's number. I know he'd enjoy going into extreme detail and theory and that sort of shit with you."

The two old neighbors laughed for a moment, until Axel popped his head in the door. "Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can I play with Roxas?"

Kairi's brow furrowed. "Who?"

Sora smiled and patted his stomach. "Axel, Roxas—um, he hasn't—"

Kairi's eyes widened in recognition. "Axel, Roxas isn't here yet. He's still living in Sora's tummy."

"Oh." Axel looked pretty put out. "But Sora is a boy."

"Yes, he is."

Axel's brow furrowed, but he reverted back to the original topic. "Roxas has racecar stuff."

"Yes." Sora nodded. "I like racecars."

"They're cool." Axel shuffled closer to Sora. "D'you think I could borrow his toys?"

"Which ones?" Sora didn't think he had purchased anything yet. "I don't know if he has any yet."

Axel's eyes got wide. "You mean he don't have any _toys?_" The two year old was flabbergasted.

"Doesn't." Kairi automatically corrected.

Sora shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

Axel's eyes hardened. "I see." He said, giving Sora an evil look. "I fix it."

And the little boy stalked off, on a mission.

Sora looked at Kairi, a little surprised. She shrugged. "It will give him something to do."

"I guess so."

* * *

The conversation with Kairi did a lot to soothe Sora's nerves. There he was, thinking he was completely alone and she popped back into his life. He was also scared of being pregnant at twenty-one. She had been there, done that. Kairi was just what he had needed!

Until they started talking about Riku, that is.

"So." Kairi had changed topics seamlessly, innocently bringing up Cloud's love life to lead into Sora's. "How is Cloud?"

"Oh, he's fine. He's dating Leon right now."

"No more Sephiroth?"

"No more Sephiroth. Kai, that was like when we were kids. They were together in college but that was ages ago for him. He's got Leon now, anyway, and Leon's much better for him."

"Not as creepy?"

"Definitely not as stalker-ish, that's for sure."

"How did they meet?"

"Leon and Cloud? Cloud said Leon brought his car into Cid's shop one day and it just blossomed from there."

"And now they're living together!" She gushed.

Sora rolled his eyes. "I'm living there, too."

"Did you just not want to get an apartment of your own?" She asked.

"Financial issues." Sora replied, nursing his empty water bottles to his chest. "I worked at a coffee shop, and had to support Vanny for so long because he was a loafer."

"Do you have all your past financial statements and stuff? Showing that you paid a lot of the rent?"

Sora shrugged. "Leon took all that stuff and organized it somewhere."

_Thank God for Leon._ Kairi thought to herself. "And what about Riku?"

Sora heaved a sigh. "That's really what this whole thing is about, isn't it?"

Kairi gave him and innocent look, but he scoffed. "C'mon, Kai. I'm not a kid anymore. I might be nice, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. I think Vanny cured me of that."

She relented. "I wanted to see you, but I am curious to your side of the story."

"There is no story." Sora spit out, eyebrows furrowed. "He's right."

Kairi was surprised. "Why do you say that?"

"What are you, my therapist?" He joked, but Kairi could hear the serious inflection in his voice. "I met him around a month or so ago. A month, Kairi. We've only been on like two dates."

"You like him."

"Of course I like him! It sure makes sense to go on a date with someone I actually like rather than someone I don't!"

"Don't get bitchy." Kairi chastised.

"I'm blaming the hormones." Sora replied. "It's not my fault. I'm an uncontrollable force of nature."

"Right."

"And you're prying."

"I'm curious!"

"Prying." Sora sing-songed. "It's none of your business. Riku probably told you that—"

"Riku told me he wanted to apologize." Kairi said.

"Apologize." Sora repeated, deadpan.

"Yes."

"For what? He was right."

"Obviously, he doesn't think so."

"Well, you know what, Kairi?" Sora huffed. "You can say whatever you want, but I don't want to hear anything from _you._"

"From Riku?"

"No, from Winnie the Pooh. Of _course _from Riku!" Sora was frustrated beyond belief.

"Temper, temper." Kairi teasingly said.

"Shut up, Kairi. Just shut up. This isn't a fucking joke." Sora tucked his knees as far into his chest as his belly would allow and let his head fall against his knees. "Did you come here for him?"

"What, Sora—"

"Did he send you here to apologize—"

"Sora Strife!" Kairi's voice was shocked. "I cannot believe you would insinuate…! Agh! Men!" She threw her hands in the air. "No, I am not here for Riku. I promise, no, I swear I am not here for him. I'm not making excuses for him, or for you for that matter. He was just the one who told me you were in town. That's it. Nothing else. I promise."

Sora sniffed. "Then why—"

"I brought him up because I think the two of you would be good together." Kairi said gently. "I didn't mean to cause you distress, I just wanted to know if you'd forgive him."

Sora sighed softly. "Yes."

"Hmm?"

"Of course I'd forgive him." Sora said. "But you know, that would require him to apologize."

"Yes, it would."

"Riku doesn't seem like the kind of guy who is good at apologizing."

"You're right. He's balls at it." Kairi chuckled. "It will be amusing to see how long it takes."

"I don't want it to take long." Sora's head flopped back on his knees. "I want him to just say it and give me a hug and everything to go back to how it used to be."

"No you don't. Don't be silly."

Sora looked up, surprised. "But…!"

"If everything went back to how to used to be, you two wouldn't grow together at all. You need to focus on moving forward. All three of you." She gestured to Sora's belly. "Riku needs to accept that, too."

"You're kind of smart." Sora said.

"Do you forgive me?"

"What, why?"

"For prying." Kairi looked kind of nervous. Sora barked out a laugh.

"Yes. I expected it, to be honest. You aren't one for minding your own business."

Kairi smirked. "Journalism major."

* * *

Kairi and Sora said their goodbyes, but not before Axel presented Sora with a monstrous towel creation.

"And, um, what is this?" Sora bent down.

Axel glared at him like he was stupid. "It's a _toy, _dumbass."

Kairi gaped. "Don't say that! That's a bad word, Axel. Where did you hear it?"

"Daddy said it."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "I see."

Sora laughed nervously at Kairi's murderous expression. "I meant, Axel, what kind of toy is it?"

"Oh! It's a Dragoon." Axel twirled the towel he'd scribbled on around. "It uses this thingy to stab bad guys."

"Charming." Kairi said so only Sora could hear. "Where does he come up with this stuff?"

"I guess it's for Roxas?" Sora smiled.

"Yes." Axel said ecstatically. "Now he has a toy."

"Thank you, Axel. That's very sweet of you." The redhead beamed.

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please leave me reviews because I like them. How do you think Riku should apologize? How would you want Riku to apologize if you were Sora? I'm pretty sure I know how he will, but I'd like to know what other people think so I can decide if it's enough, you know? Thanks!

PS: Sorry that it's late. I got a lot of error messages.


	9. Chapter 9

_CHAPTER NINE_

_

* * *

_

Good employees, like all things good, were reliable and admirable. They did what they were supposed to do, as they were the very definition of dependable and hard working.

Riku was being a bad employee.

He had purposefully not answered any calls today. He wasn't in the mood.

He hadn't signed for any packages, either, because that would require him to answer the door. Fuck that. He had more important things to do.

Like sighing melodramatically. Obviously.

Riku was smart. He was proud of his intelligence, which could easily be construed as arrogance. Perhaps he was a bit arrogant, but he had every right to be.

Valedictorian of his class in high school and at the large University of Hollow Bastion. He was fucking brilliant.

Riku was one of _those_ students, one that never had to study because he just knew the answers. The material was intuitive to him and he frowned upon those that struggled in a class that was just so very easy for him. Was it any surprise that he had decided himself superior?

Riku was attractive and very charismatic. He was charming. He was also one of those people that knew he was gorgeous, and his response to compliments was completely insincere. A smirk he knew was sexy, a slight tilt of his head to draw attention to the long hair that was a huge hit with both genders, and a short, curt reply that made hearts pitter-patter because he was such a "bad boy." Riku did not lack sexual experience with either gender, although his time at college had solidified his high school hypothesis that he was truly gay and not just bisexual.

Was Riku an asshole? A bit of one, sure, he'd concede. But everyone had their moments. For Riku, it was more like a phase.

Riku's vituperative prowess would have even impressed Cid Highwind. He could knock someone down a size almost instantaneously. Riku liked to argue. He liked to get his point across. He was good at it, too, which was part of the reason he wanted to practice law. It delighted him, the cases and the meetings and the arrogance. It was a profession suited to his strengths.

Riku prided himself on his ability to sort though problems: to organize the information, persuade the jury, construct a sound argument for his side regardless of evidence or lack thereof.

So Sora Strife was a puzzle. A big one because Riku had actually had to think about the whole situation—for _days_—and he still didn't have an answer.

He hadn't talked to Kairi since the day she made him give her Sora's number.

He hadn't talked to Sora since the lunch date.

Riku hadn't lost any sleep over it, mostly because he wasn't big on sleep anyway. But it bothered him. It really bothered him. Primarily because he didn't know what to do. What was he supposed to do?

Kairi had told him to apologize. She was right. Riku knew that. Step One: Apology. But after that?

Riku was twenty-three years old. He worked as a secretary for a big law firm, so he had some money, but Riku was going to go to Law school, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Law school was fucking _expensive. _It was a huge financial commitment. It was also a huge time commitment.

Riku was concerned.

Step One: Apology. Riku could do that, no sweat. He already had an idea in mind. However, if he apologized, it would lead into…

Step Two: Most likely raise Sora's kid with Sora while maintaining adult relationship. Somehow.

Kids were fucking expensive. Riku had no idea how Sora was planning on financially supporting himself, but Riku did not want to be obligated to drop his own ambitions for some dead-end job in order to take care of someone else's child.

If it were his child, he'd reconsider. But that was not that case.

If the plan continued, as it currently was formulating in his head, then

Step Three: Riku's in Law School + Sora's taking care of baby = Financial Arguments due to Differing Priorities.

Riku had no qualms with Sora's primary concern being his child. Sora was a good person; he was definitely doing the right thing by taking care of his baby, Roxas. However, Riku was afraid that his desire to go to Law School would interfere with Sora's caregiving simply because money only stretched so far.

Step Four: Relationship Ends. Obviously due to the previously mentioned money problems.

So was Riku doing the right thing by simply ending the relationship now and saving Sora the heartbreak that he would inevitably cause? Riku did not want the child to get attached to him and then up and leave. He was an asshole, but he was not an insensitive bastard. If he was going to commit, it'd be for life. Even if he and Sora stopped dating, Riku would be there for Roxas because it was another commitment. You didn't promise a child you'd be there and then just leave.

Riku didn't know. He didn't know all the factors surrounding Sora's relationship with his family. Would his brother support him? If so, for how long? There were so many external variables, why hadn't he stayed and talked to Sora and tried to eliminate some of the possibilities?

Not to mention the fact that this male pregnancy was completely unprecedented. Was Sora safe? Was the baby safe? Would the birth be all right? C-section, Riku was guessing, but if Sora went into labor early… how painful and harmful could that be? Would Sora die?

Would the child suffer from some chromosomal defects because Sora was XY and Vanitas was XY, as well? Was YY even possible? Was it bad? Would it hurt the child? Should Sora consider an abortion because the child might be really, really screwed up and be stillborn?

What kind of Doctor was Sora seeing? Was he professional? Could he handle this sort of situation? Was he taking good care of Sora?

How many people knew about it—Roxas? Was there a danger of the press grabbing hold of the story and the child never living a normal life? Would Sora be on one of those crap TV shows like "I didn't know I was pregnant" or something?

Why was he so hung up on Sora, anyway? There were dozens of guys out there. Riku didn't want them, though. Not anymore. He just wanted Sora. He didn't know why. He just did, damn it. Sora made his heart race uncomfortably fast and Riku liked it.

Riku was thinking, using his foot to swirl his desk chair back and forth while he ignored the bustling world surrounding him. He didn't know what to do. He simply didn't know.

Even a smart guy can be confused.

Riku was startled out of his thoughts when a stack of files were dropped loudly on his desk. He blinked and stared up at Loz. Loz raised a brow.

Riku flushed sheepishly. "I'll get right on these."

"You see that you do."

* * *

After a long afternoon trying to catch up at work, Riku was finally walking towards his apartment along the city streets.

He had reached a conclusion. The relief he felt put Riku in a good enough mood to stop on Melmond and buy himself a chocolate éclair from the pastry shop.

As he munched, he thought of Sora.

He had decided that regardless of all his legitimate concerns, he simply did not have enough information to determine that their relationship would be a failure. He was just assuming, which meant he was being lazy and trying to reason not going after what he wanted rather than bucking up and dealing with the possibility of an aftermath that might leave him, as well as Sora, emotionally battered.

It also wasn't fair to continue like this: always curious about what might have been. Would he regret not at least saying goodbye to Sora? Surprisingly, he felt that he would. Riku wanted to see Sora again.

Riku was going to apologize.

He fumbled with his hands awkwardly, smearing éclair filling on his sleeve. He frowned. Perhaps the thought was a bit unsettling?

Riku wasn't a pansy. He wasn't going to back down from this because he was scared Sora would slam the door in his face, regardless of how much that might be true. He was going to march up, ring the doorbell, and say he was sorry. Then the ball was in Sora's court, and Sora could decide the appropriate response.

He glanced up at a store of his right and stopped abruptly. A gift might be a nice touch, too.

* * *

Riku took a deep breath. He had the bouquet tucked under one arm, ready to be whipped out in a grand manner of affection. He was just trying to calm himself down, to just relax and not move like a robot. Riku was sure the people on Sora's street were curious about the strange boy hyperventilating in his car on the curb in front of the house.

He finally convinced himself to get out of his stupid car. Riku felt like he was on a death march. He didn't think he'd ever moved so slow.

"One foot at a time." He muttered to himself, and then he realized what he said and felt like an idiot.

And then he was in front of the door. On the welcome mat. Staring at the doorbell. Staring at the knocker. Should he knock? Should he ring?

He took a deep breath and rang.

To his surprise, a cheerful brunette _female_ opened the door.

"Hi there! Well, lookie here! What's this? Are you a flower delivery man?"

Riku was dumbfounded. For the first time in his life, his jaw dropped.

"You'll catch flies like that!" She tittered.

"Selph? Who's at the door?" A male voice called from somewhere in the townhouse.

"A gorgeous man with flowers!~" She sang back. "Are they for me?"

"No." Riku regained his composure. "No, they are not."

"For Irvine, then?"

"For who? What, no!" Riku shook his head.

"Pity, that. I guess you're just in the wrong place, bud. Sorry."

Riku nodded goodbye to the girl as she shut the front door. He double-checked the address. He was at the right place. He rang the doorbell again.

"Hey, stranger. Do you need something?" Selphie asked, very amused.

"Do you know where Sora is?"

"Sorry, never heard of him."

"But you just moved in?"

"Yep! A friend of Irvine's found this place for us."

"I see." Riku replied. "Sorry to bother you."

"No problem, stranger!"

And Riku was left standing on the porch, wrong address in one hand and bouquet in the other.

* * *

A/N: I got 11 reviews in 2 days, and I feel this sort of excellent reviewing behavior most definitely deserves a reward. Thanks for all the support, reviewers! I hope you (and all my stalkers) enjoyed an early update! (Is there one also coming this weekend? I guess you will just have to wait and see.)


	10. Chapter 10

_CHAPTER TEN_

* * *

Riku whipped out his cell phone and speed dialed number three.

"Kairi."

"Hey, Riku." Riku expected more of a response, something he could grab on to and use to find Sora's location. No such luck.

"Sora moved."

Kairi paused. Riku winced. Apparently his mouth was ahead of his brain, and was not subtle in the least.

"Aww, Riku! Did you go to his house—"

"Kairi—"

"—to apologize, I bet you—"

"Kairi, I just want—"

"—just the cutest thing—"

"KAIRI!" Riku shouted, annoyed.

"Geez, you don't have to yell."

"I did not. It was simply a strong statement."

"Whatever." Riku could hear Kairi roll her eyes.

"Can you tell me Sora's new address?"

"I can."

Riku grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. "Great, thanks Kai." He waited, anticipating her response. A couple moments later, she still hadn't replied. Riku made a noise of anticipation in hope that she'd begin.

"I said I could, not that I would."

_Oh shit, _Riku though to himself.

"What is it worth to you, Riku-dear?"

* * *

The next Saturday morning found Riku standing on the porch of a large, white house. There were three trees planted across the front yard. They were not in a perfect row. Perhaps the planter had been slightly intoxicated at the time his strength was needed and had simply plopped the trees wherever he damn well felt like it.

Riku felt his stomach coil with tension. He was not looking forward to this. Damn Kairi.

He knocked on the door, and Kairi's bright, cheeky grin met his own grimace.

"Well, hello there."

"Hi." Riku grit out.

"It's babysitting, Riku, not a death sentence. Lighten up."

"It's fucking blackmail." Riku muttered under his breath.

Kairi, the clever little chit, had demanded Riku babysit her monster while she ran errands for a whole _three hours_ in exchange for Sora's address when she returned_. _Riku groaned inwardly as Kairi gave him a quick tour of the place. He didn't pay attention, just nodded and continued his mental angst fest.

"And this is Axel's room." Kairi ended her tour with a little bounce, knocking on the open red door. The baby was sitting the middle of the floor, bashing a burnt bear's head into the ground.

"Axel, this is my friend Riku. Riku, this is Axel."

"Charmed." Riku mumbled, staring down at the little fiend. Axel peered up at Riku and turned to his mother with a smile.

"We gonna play?"

"That's right. You and Riku will stay here and play while Mommy is going to run around trying to get as many boring errands done as possible. Okay?"

"'Kay!" Axel replied enthusiastically. And attached himself to Riku's leg.

"No, stop that." Riku shook his leg and the baby just laughed. Kairi smirked.

"I'll just be going then. Call me if you're really desperate."

"Like now?"

* * *

Riku and Axel stared at one another.

"Hi." Axel said, peering up from where he was sitting on Riku's shoe, clenched around Riku's left leg.

"Will you get off?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why not?"

"Because you're messing up my slacks."

"'Cuz you're messin' up my slack."

Riku's forehead wrinkled and he pinched his nose in irritation. "Are you repeating everything I say?"

Axel giggled like a madman. "Are you repeatin' everyfing I say?"

Riku raised a brow, silent.

Axel squirmed on Riku's shoe. "We play now."

"Sure. Great. Whatever."

Axel did not release Riku's leg. "What game is this?"

"The walk game."

"The walk game? What is the purpose of this game? What are you doing? You aren't walking."

"You walk, I ride." Axel replied, looking at Riku like he was an idiot for even having to ask.

Riku sighed. He wondered how long three hours could possibly last.

* * *

A very, very, _very _long time, Riku decided. Three hours was a very long time.

The played several games, most of which involved Riku's total and complete humiliation. Some might say that Axel was just two, barely old enough to understand anything. Riku would vehemently disagree.

Axel was an evil mastermind.

He had devised another game, entitled "horsey," in which he demanded Riku crawl around on his hands and knees while Axel rode on his back. Not only was this a blatant display of dominance, but Riku's knees really fucking hurt—a torture device disguised cleverly as a game.

Then Axel wanted to color. Riku was okay with that. He fetched colorful pens and such for his master's amusement. He watched Axel draw, glancing up to the clock above the kitchen table whenever Axel wasn't paying attention.

"Draw with me?"

Riku grimaced. "No."

"Peeeas?" Axel gave Riku a puppy-eyed pout. Riku was unamused.

"No."

Axel's eyes watered and Riku felt himself crack. "Fine. Don't be such a baby. Give me a sheet of paper."

Axel eagerly passed one over and watched Riku fumble through the marker bin. "Whatcha gonna make?"

"You'll see." Riku settled on a brown marker.

He uncapped it, Axel's eyes eating up his every move.

He drew a small, brown inverted triangle on the paper. Then capped his marker.

"Done?" Axel said, confused.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"A polar bear in a blizzard."

"Oh, I see!"

Riku rolled his eyes.

* * *

Sora had better damn well appreciate his efforts, Riku had decided, exasperated.

He had withstood three hours of Axel torture. _Three hours_ of running around in the backyard with a soccer ball (Axel toddled after it, constantly delighting in the fact they were playing "sokor") and dealing with a smelly, not-yet-potty-trained child.

Riku did not like changing diapers.

Finally. Kairi arrived home. She carried her groceries and shopping bags in and set them on the counter.

"Riku, could I have some help?"

Riku latched on to the offer to get away from the little redhead. He happily played the part of a pack mule.

Kairi swept her son into a hug.

"Did you and Riku have a good time?" She asked, combing her fingers through Axel's wild locks.

"Uh-huh! We had games and colors and sokor and horseys!"

"Wow, sounds like you two were pretty busy." She smiled. "Why don't you go play while Mommy puts groceries away?"

Axel beamed up at Kairi and scampered away. Kairi turned to Riku with a smirk.

"You played with him for three straight hours?"

Riku huffed, dropping another load of bags onto the kitchen counter. "That's what you asked."

"I asked you to babysit, Riku, and I must admit I'm surprised the TV stayed off."

Riku looked startled. "Why would I have made him watch TV? He wanted to play."

Kairi smiled to herself. "Why, indeed." She grinned and watched Riku's back as he left to get another load of packages from her van.

* * *

After getting Sora's address from Kairi (finally!), Riku drove over to Sora's new house. He was surprised it was in Radiant Garden; if they could afford to live here, there were definitely circumstances surrounding Sora's pregnancy that Riku hadn't been aware of.

He parked on the curb in front of the house and sighed. After all his bravado last time… well, this time was the one that counted.

Riku raked his fingers through his hair. He could do this. He had before; he would finish it this time. Plus, he had a much better bouquet this time around. Riku grinned down at the gift in the passenger seat. It had been a stroke of brilliance.

With his pride over his gift carrying him, Riku got out of the car and walked up to the front porch. He took a deep breath. Thankfully, there was only a doorbell. No knocker and no decision to stall him.

The bell sounded a bit like a funeral march.

Riku took a few deep breaths, trying to prevent hyperventilation. That's just what he needed, to pass out on Sora's porch.

The door opened and a tall brunette stood in front of the doorway. He eyed Riku, completely unimpressed.

"You are not the delivery company." If Riku didn't know better, he would guess that the man sounded a little depressed.

"No, I need to speak to Sora."

"Hm. One moment."

Riku blinked as the door was slammed in front of his face. He fidgeted. Most people let guests wait inside their home…? Did the man know it was him? Did they hold some grudges for hurting Sora? Oh shit, was that Sora's brother?

"Coming!" Riku heard Sora's voice and closed his eyes against the wash of emotions.

The door opened, and Riku was met with a more-obviously-pregnant Sora who was still just as perfect as ever.

Sora gasped, a small intake of breath that Riku heard because it was just so damn quiet and silent and _awkward._

"Sora, I'm sorry." Riku blurted out, completely forgetting his heavily prepared and practiced speech. Riku thrust the bouquet in Sora's face. "Please accept this as a token of my apology."

"Oh." Sora took the bouquet and eyed it curiously. "These aren't flowers."

"No."

"What is this? They're cloth flowers…?" Sora pinched one blue rose, a cute expression of confusion distracting Riku completely.

"Uh, yeah. They're baby clothes." Riku whispered.

"Baby clothes?" Sora was surprised. "You got me a bouquet of _baby clothes?_"

"They're wrapped up to look like flowers." Riku argued.

"That's not the point! That's not the point at _all, _Riku." Sora replied, staring at Riku's face so intently that Riku avoided Sora's eyes by studying the ground.

"I… I just… I'm sorry." Riku stammered. "It was just sudden and weird and I acted without speaking and it's really your decision, anyway, but I was just concerned because it can't be healthy and I was concerned is all and I just…"

"Riku." Sora breathed.

Riku immediately stopped rambling and his eyes shot up to meet Sora's.

"I forgive you."

Riku let out a sigh of relief. "I just… I mean… thank you." He said softly.

"You're welcome."

The two stood on the porch, staring at each other.

"Sora," Riku began. "Will…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Will we be okay?"

Sora smiled warmly. "We'll get there."

* * *

A/N: So I totally missed this weekend for an update, didn't I? I blame this chapter. I'm still not quite happy with it, but you know, that's okay. If I come back and tweak it I'll just let you guys know. The apology scene took me forever. Did you like it? Was it good?

Thanks for reading! I hope you all liked it. Sorry that this update took so long. Blah.


	11. Chapter 11

_CHAPTER ELEVEN_

* * *

Cloud, curious (nosy!) and over-protective as all older brothers tend to be, was watching Sora and Riku's interaction from the top of the stairwell. He was lying on his belly, peering down through the railing in order to subtlety observe the couple at the front door.

"Is that effective?"

Cloud was startled and then shushed his boyfriend and turned his attention back to the couple at the bottom of the stairs. Cloud didn't want to pry, but he wanted to know, god damn it. Sora and this Riku character had been dancing around each other for like a month.

Cloud heard Leon sigh, and felt the man sit beside him. Cloud jumped when a hand fell on his low back, and unlike usual Leon's calm presence made Cloud tense.

"When are we going to talk about this?"

"Leon, _hush._"

"It's not going to go away. I asked you a question, Cloud. And I want a response."

Cloud huffed and pushed himself up, causing Leon's hand to fall from his back. "I'm trying to be sneaky, Leon!"

Leon's steady gaze met a storm of emotions in Cloud's eyes.

"You aren't ready." Leon murmured. "I'm sorry for pressing."

Leon walked away and Cloud buried his eyes in the heels of his hands. When had it gotten so complicated?

A week ago. It had gotten complicated a week ago.

* * *

"Cloud?"

"Hmm?" Cloud peered at Leon over the glass of orange juice he was sipping. He placed the juice down and smiled. "Yes?"

Leon, instead of answering directly, folded the morning paper meticulously, lining each section carefully back into place and recreating the original order. Cloud watched him, slightly confused.

"Um, what?" Cloud finally asked.

Leon sighed and ran his fingers across the crease that folded the newspaper in half. "I have a question."

"I have an answer." Cloud teased.

"Do you." Leon stated dryly and Cloud felt the conversation jump into a serious mood.

"Maybe not." Cloud responded softly. "It would depend on the question."

"Indeed." Leon glanced at the clock. "Let's go for a walk. We have time before we need to leave for work."

Cloud shrugged. "All right."

* * *

The Radiant Garden lived up to its namesake. Part of the prestige of owning property in the district came from the lovely vast network of interconnected gardens, parks, and walkways. It was quite beautiful, and Cloud was surprised that he and Leon had yet to walk this particular route before.

Cloud smiled at their hands, firmly intertwined. He looked up at Leon and his smile faded.

"What's wrong?"

"Cloud." Leon said. "I know your brother doesn't know…"

Cloud didn't reply, wanting to see where Leon was headed. There were plenty of things that Sora didn't know.

"He doesn't know about our civil union."

Cloud shook his head. "I know. Is this about that?" Cloud wondered aloud. "Leon, I'll tell him if…"

Leon chuckled and squeezed Cloud's hand. "No. I appreciate the thought."

"I just haven't thought of telling him…"

"I know, Cloud. It's okay." Leon reassured him. "It is about our relationship, though."

Cloud sighed, stopping short and letting Leon's hand fall from his own. He turned to a hydrangea bush and pretended like he was fascinated with the blossoming flowers.

"Cloud, look at me."

Cloud reluctantly tore his gaze away from the plant, but didn't meet Leon's eyes. He stared at his shirt, instead.

Leon tapped the underside of Cloud's chin impatiently. Cloud lifted his eyes.

"Cloud." Leon murmured. "Darling."

Cloud flushed at the endearment and was instantly glad they hadn't taken the popular and crowded morning route.

Leon smiled, genuinely smiled at Cloud and the blonde couldn't help but smile back.

"I am happy, Cloud. So very, very happy. You are completely responsible for this." Leon teased affectionately.

"Should I apologize?" Cloud laughed.

"Never." Leon replied and drew Cloud into a hug. Cloud closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of Leon's chest. Leon let his cheek rest on the top of Cloud's head.

"Cloud, this has nothing to do with you. It has to do with us."

Cloud hummed in response.

"I honestly had never thought about it, Cloud. Ever. I figured I'd die alone and donate all my money to some charity." Leon sighed. "And then you came."

Cloud blinked and opened his eyes. He felt a bit uncomfortable under Leon's intense gaze. What was this about?

"I love you so much, Cloud. Do not forget that."

"I won't." Cloud whispered. "I love you, too."

"I know." Leon hugged Cloud tighter. "I can't believe how lucky I am."

"You are awfully sappy today, sir." Cloud grinned cheekily at Leon.

Leon's smile didn't waver. "Cloud, I want to have a family."

Cloud blinked. "You mean…"

"I know we're family, and I know Sora's family, and I know Selphie wants to adopt us into her family, but I'm thinking about kids, Cloud."

Cloud let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Oh my gosh."

"I want your opinion on this matter."

"Obviously." Cloud replied. "Damn, Leon, you don't ask the small ones."

Leon chuckled and kissed Cloud's neck. "Take all the time you need. Have you ever thought about it?"

"Yes and no." Cloud replied. "Not really, not until Sora... and then I started thinking about it…"

Leon nodded. "And? "

"I don't know, Leon. I… Are you thinking of adoption or the surrogate mother business?"

"Adoption. There are plenty of kids that need us."

"That there are." Cloud murmured in agreement. "I just, I need time Leon. Just to think."

"You have all the time you need."

"Thank you."

Leon kissed Cloud's forehead, then bent and planted a quick peck to his lips.

"Let's go back?"

"Yeah."

They walked in silence.

* * *

A week later and Cloud felt like his thoughts had only gone backwards. Sora needed his support. Was adopting children now really the right decision? Should they wait until after Sora gave birth? How long after?

Who was going to watch after the kids? Cloud couldn't really picture himself or Leon running around with a baby on their hip.

But most importantly he realized he'd been shutting Leon out. All these thoughts had been circulating in his head and he hadn't voiced them aloud. Leon was a very good sounding board. Why was Cloud hesitant?

Cloud pulled his head away from his hands and jogged after Leon. He knew why.

"Leon. Leon?" Cloud peered into the library, easily finding his nerdy boyfriend.

Leon glanced up. "Cloud."

"I have questions." Cloud blurted.

Leon's lips tweaked into a half grin. "I have answers."

"Let's go on a walk?"

"Let's."

* * *

Cloud voiced the majority of his concerns with ease. Leon's answers either soothed his distress or brought about a discussion in which the two settled on a compromise. Cloud was scared to voice his final concern and Leon knew why. Leon had the same fear.

"Cloud, we'll get through this together. I know you're scared you won't be a good father, but so am I. I think it's just a parental thing. I think even parents who already have kids are scared they aren't be good parents."

"My father left." Cloud mumbled. "I don't even know what dads _do._"

"You helped raise Sora." Leon responded. "Sora turned out fine."

Cloud and Leon shared a quick amused expression that dissolved into laughter.

"Sora's just Sora." Cloud said after regaining control of himself.

Leon hummed.

"And I agree with you, I think now's as good a time as any."

"Mmhmm."

Cloud smiled at his husband. "Should we go now?"

"No time like the present."

Cloud arched a brow. "You've already registered us and everything, haven't you?"

Leon smirked. "Of course."

* * *

Sora, after a long afternoon of talking and finally exchanging contact information with Riku (who was adamant about double checking everything), realized the house was completely empty. He was confused.

Leon and Cloud had been here?

Oh well. He was distracted by the thought of hot pockets. Mmm.

Sora microwaved himself some delicious snacks and settled down at the table to indulge himself. He was just about to take his first bite when he heard the garage door open. He shrugged—Leon and Cloud must be home. He returned his attention to the food. He munched. Sora had been craving these trans fats, yes he had.

The door leading to the garage opened and to Sora's surprise he heard a child's voice along with Cloud's.

"…and this is Sora. Your Uncle Sora, because he's my brother. He lives with us, too."

Sora looked up from his hot pocket to find a grinning dirty-haired blonde clinging to Cloud's side.

One instant he was there and the next he was clambering into Sora's lap.

"Hello Sora!"

"Hi?"

"I'm Demyx! Guess what guess what guess whaaat?"

Sora grinned. "Whaaat?"

Demyx leaned close to Sora, prompting Sora to lean down to whisper with the boy.

"I GOT ADOPTED TODAY!" Demyx shouted, flailing his hands wildly and knocking Sora's unfinished hot pocket to the floor.

Sora turned to look at an unrepentant, happy couple. Leon was smiling as wide as Sora had ever seen and Cloud was eyeing Demyx with obvious fondness.

"AND NOW I HAVE TWO DADDIES! TWO IS WAY BETTER THAN ONE!" Demyx hopped down from where he was sitting on Sora's lap and rushed over to his new parents.

"THIS," He began, tugging Leon's hand. "THIS IS MY PAPA!"

"You don't have to shout, Dem." Leon responded.

"I CAN'T HELP IT! I'M SO EXCITED!" Demyx resumed his hand flailing motions, twirling about the room like a drunken acrobat.

Cloud laughed. Outright laughed. "We're excited too."

"I KNOW!" Demyx yelled. "I'M SO HAPPY I COULD SING!" The little blonde danced over to Cloud and tugged on his arm.

"THIS IS MY DADDY! YAY!"

Cloud ruffled Demyx's hair affectionately. "And this is my son."

Demyx beamed up at Cloud, then turned and sent Leon the same happy grin. Then he gasped dramatically.

"Wait! This is my new house!" He turned, looking at the kitchen with new eyes. "This is my kitchen!" He hugged the island, and a barstool, and one of the chairs at the table Sora was sitting at.

"That's right." Leon replied. "And you probably need to pick out a bedroom…" Leon let the sentence hang, enjoying the look a pure amazement that fluttered across Demyx's face.

"MY ROOM! AHHH!" The little boy screeched and shot out of the kitchen like a rocket.

All three adults chuckled at his exuberance.

Sora sent Cloud a questioning look. Cloud smiled. "We couldn't let you have all the parenting fun, now could we?"

"How old is he?"

"Four." Leon replied. "Demyx Leonhart." He whispered with slight awe.

Cloud smiled and squeezed Leon's hand.

Sora picked his snack up off the floor and took another bite. "Leonhart?" He mumbled through his food.

Cloud looked at Leon, who nodded back. "Leon and I are pretty much married, Sora. I took his last name, but I don't use it."

Sora was wide-eyed. "When did that happen?"

"A year ago? Maybe more?" Cloud turned to Leon.

"I know the exact number of days, darling." He said flirtatiously, causing even Sora to blush.

There was a quick lull of awkward silence as Leon realized Sora was still in the room, and then a loud voice screamed from upstairs.

"I WANT THE ROOM THAT'S PAINTED YELLOW! I LOVE YELLOW!"

* * *

A/N: Sorry I haven't responded to chapter 10 reviews. I was pretty sick this past week and mainly focused on just getting better (sleeping!). I'll get around to it. I honestly thought Leon and Cloud would wait for adoption but then it seemed like their life was just going to be too easy. We can't have that.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review! (Do you think we can break 75? That would make me gush pure happiness. If we do I'll update early in a fit of joy.)


	12. Chapter 12

_CHAPTER TWELVE_

* * *

The first thing Demyx had decided when he got to his huge house was that his room was going to be the coolest thing _ever. _

When Papa mentioned that he needed to pick out a room, Demyx had felt silly. Of course he did! How could he have forgotten? He was so silly sometimes.

He climbed the stairs (so many stairs! He wondered if he could bounce balls down them?) and began a frantic room picking adventure.

He peeked into the first room on the hallway. It was very big but there was already stuff in it. Demyx snooped around for a minute and realized it was Uncle Sora's stuff because it was thrown everywhere (messy, Uncle Sora!) and there were pictures of Uncle Sora with people Demyx didn't know—and some with daddy! Demyx looked at those with a big smile.

The next room was filled with baby stuff. He was no baby!

The baby room was connected to another room. It was like a bathroom tunnel! Two secret sink rooms and then they had a potty in the middle!

Demyx went into the fourth room. He didn't like it. Then he went into the fifth room. It was perfect and yellow and PERFECT!

Getting adopted was the bestest thing ever! Even better and cooler than how cool his new room was going to be which was pretty cool!

So here's how it happened: it was a normal day in his old house where he lived with bunches of other kids. Demyx didn't know how many other kids; he was good at counting—Zexy taught him and Zexy was the smartest and bestest friend _ever_—but right now he could only count to thirty-nine and he knew there were more than thirty-nine others 'cause he counted them up one day at dinner. Maybe there were thirty-nine hundred _million gazillion!_ Yes, Demyx decided. That was the right number.

Demyx ate some fruity loops for breakfast because they were his favorite. Zexy wasn't sitting across from him like usual. He was a bit further down the table, sitting with the big kids and eating toast. He didn't even use any jelly! He just liked plain boring toast. Fruity loops were so much better and funner and Demyx loudly said so. Zexy didn't answer. He didn't even notice. Demyx's bottom lip wobbled.

Then they split up into groups to go to school but Demyx wasn't in school yet—he was going to start soon! Zexy was old and had to go to school.

One day Demyx had been curious and said, "Zexy, how old are you?"

And Zexy had put down the book they were reading together and said, "I'm ten."

"Oh. Does that mean you're older than me?"

"Yes, Dem. By six years." And Zexy rolled his eyes. Zexy did that a lot. But not right now because they were… he was…

Right now he was in the group (twenty kids in this group!) that stayed at the orphanage during the day with Mr. Palmer.

Mr. Palmer was very big and kind of scary and Demyx did not like him much at all, meaning he didn't like him one bit but he couldn't say that because it's mean and Demyx didn't want to hurt Mr. Palmer's feelings. Zexy did not have manners and said all sorts of mean things that made Demyx gasp sometimes.

But today was a very nice day even though Zexy was mad at him. Mr. Palmer rounded up his group and let Demyx and some of the other older kids go play outside because it was a very pretty outside.

Demyx played happily for awhile in the sandbox because it had rained and there was a big, wet puddle in the sand. Demyx liked to play with puddles. He scooped up the wet sand and pretended he had superpowers and could make the water fly around and maybe even dance. Demyx liked dancing. Zexy didn't, but sometimes if Demyx asked really, really nicely Zexy would dance with him anyway. He was the coolest like that.

And then Mr. Palmer came outside and said, "Time to come in!"

So Demyx did. He wandered into his room and felt a little sad because Zexy hadn't left him any books to read today. He hadn't read Demyx any bedtime stories, either, for the whole past week. It was very sad. Ellie was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking very sad, too.

"I know, Ellie." Demyx said sympathetically, cuddling his blue stuffed elephant to his chest. "We're gonna say sorry again when Zexy gets home. He's been mad for forever and he'll have to forgive us."

Demyx still wasn't quite sure what he'd done wrong, but Zexy had been not happy with him for a week. A whole week! Demyx had tried to talk and say sorry but Zexy was being a meanie and wouldn't listen.

Yesterday, when Demyx had tried again for the thousandth time, Zexy had said very mean things. He said, "Demyx, you annoying pest, stop following me around! You are extremely embarrassing to be seen with and I wish you would just _go away_!"

Demyx had run away crying. He hadn't _meant _to be a pest. He was only trying to say sorry!

Demyx hugged Ellie even tighter because he felt like crying again. He was such a big baby! No wonder Zexy didn't want to be seen with him. Maybe Zexy didn't even want to be his friend anymore…?

Mr. Palmer tapped Demyx on the shoulder, startling Demyx out of his very sad thoughts. He said, "Demyx, there are some people that want to meet you."

Demyx knew what Mr. Palmer meant: adoption people. He sighed because most of the time he had to sit really still and be on his best behavior, which meant being quiet. Demyx wasn't very good at quiet and Mr. Palmer had given him several talks about it. And he wasn't supposed to move, either. Mr. Palmer said he was fidgety. Zexy did, too.

So Demyx changed clothes (because he was sandy and wet and Mr. Palmer wanted him to look nice) and then went to go see the adoption people.

Demyx entered the talking-to-adoption-people room with Mr. Palmer nervously. He was always nervous because these people might be taking him away, but he was excited, too, for the very same reason. And Demyx wanted to have a daddy and a mommy, even though he had lots of friends here.

Demyx saw two men sitting in the room. He blinked. Usually there was a man and a woman.

Mr. Palmer said, "Demyx, meet Mr. Leonhart and Mr. Strife."

Demyx said hi.

Mr. Palmer nodded and said he was going to give them a few minutes alone. He always did that. And then Demyx could relax and be more fidgety.

Demyx watched him go with a sigh of relief. One of the men laughed at his immediate bad posture.

"Hello, Demyx. I'm Leon." The one with the brown hair said.

"I'm Cloud." Said the one who had laughed.

"And I'm Demyx!" He replied. "Now we're friends."

The older men exchanged a look.

"Well, Demyx, why don't you tell us about yourself?" Leon said.

Demyx immediately got frustrated. That was another thing about this that bothered him—the adoption people always got to ask so many questions! He wasn't supposed to cause it was _rude_, Mr. Palmer said. Wasn't he the one going away with them?

"Why don't you tell me about you first?" Demyx crossed his arms in front of his chest defiantly.

The men looked surprised.

"Well, Demyx, we really want to know more about you." Leon said.

"I want to know about you too. It's not fair to ask me stuff when I can't ask you stuff. It should be against the rules."

Leon chuckled. "Alright. I'm Leon. I doing boring work stuff all day and when I get home I like to play with Cloud." Cloud turned really red.

Demyx frowned. "I don't like doing boring work."

"I also like taking walks. We live near some really beautiful gardens." Leon continued.

Demyx was slightly more interested. "I like playing outside."

"We saw." Cloud said. "Mr. Palmer pointed you out. You were playing in the sandbox. Wasn't it wet?"

"Of course it was!" Demyx said. "That's what was fun about it! It was mushy and dirty and I could build stuff out of it. I like water."

"Do you like to swim? I like swimming." Cloud said.

Demyx squealed. "I LOVE SWIMMING!"

Leon and Cloud smiled at one another. "We have a pool."

Demyx got starry-eyed. "Really? Could I swim in it?"

"Of course you could." Cloud replied. "But we'd have to swim with you. It's safer that way."

"I like playing water ninjas. Do you think you could be a good water ninja?"

"I believe so." Leon replied.

"Do you like music?"

"Yes." Cloud answer. Leon nodded his head.

"Do you like _good _music?"

Cloud laughed.

"I wouldn't listen to it if it wasn't good." Leon answered.

"Do you play any instaments?"

"Instruments." Leon corrected. "And no, we don't."

"Would you let me?"

"Play an instrument? Of course. Why not?" Cloud said.

"I don't know how, though." Demyx confessed.

"If you want lessons, you can have lessons." Leon said.

"Hmm…" Demyx kicked his legs back and forth. "I like you guys, but why are you guys _guys_? Isn't there always a mommy and a daddy?"

"Well, Demyx, Leon and I have what's called a civil union. It's like being married, but we're two men instead of one man and one woman. To answer your question, there doesn't always have to be a mommy. There might just be two daddies. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah! Girls have cooties, anyway." Demyx paused. "But having two daddies might be confusing."

"It might be." Leon agreed. "In that case, I'll be papa."

"And I'll be daddy." Cloud smiled.

Demyx's lower lip trembled. "Are you guys… are you really gonna adopt me?"

Cloud smiled softly, and Leon nodded again.

"B-But I don't even know if you give good hugs!" Demyx said, teary-eyed.

Cloud stretched out his arms and was surprised at how fast Demyx was in them.

Cloud felt the wetness seep into his shirt and readjusted Demyx so the little boy was on his lap with his face buried in Cloud's neck. Cloud gently ran his fingers through Demyx's hair.

"Do you want to go home with us?"

"Kind of, yeah." Demyx said.

"There's still a lot we don't know about each other. But we're friends, and we want to be family. We'll figure it out together. We're pretty smart, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Demyx said softly. "You guys have to be the smartiest dads for adopting me."

"We'd like to think so." Leon said, reaching over and squeezing Demyx's hand reassuringly.

Demyx sniffled. When Mr. Palmer came back in the room his new daddy didn't put him down. Instead he carried him into Demyx's shared bedroom and the two blondes watched papa pack up all Demyx's stuff.

His daddy put him down to say goodbye to his friends. Demyx was upset to be leaving, but his papa and daddy were very nice so far. He liked them a lot. And it was a little exciting. A new adventure, like the ones he and Zexy read about! And yesterday Zexy had said he wanted Demyx to go away. This way he could make Zexy happy, too, even though it made Demyx sad that he wouldn't get to say goodbye.

Demyx left the orphanage holding his new parents' hands.

"Wait!" Demyx said suddenly. "There's one more thing I need to do."

* * *

"Where are we going? Are we going home now?" Demyx asked. Papa had strapped him into a booster seat in a very shiny car.

Papa and Daddy looked at each other.

"We can if you'd like, Demyx, but would you rather go shopping for furniture and toys for your new room?"

Demyx's eyes got huge. "YES!"

* * *

Demyx's presence stirred parental feelings that Cloud hadn't even known he had.

Cloud had fallen in love all over again, albeit in a completely different manner. Demyx was just… adorable and brilliant and clever and Cloud was so damn happy he and Leon had adopted the bouncy almost-kindergartener.

Demyx was bursting with enthusiasm for life. It was very refreshing. Cloud couldn't hold back his goofy grin every time Demyx called him "daddy." It was the simplest thing in the world, and yet provoked emotions Cloud couldn't describe. He'd seen Leon's dazed expression, too. He wasn't alone in experiencing this new parent phenomenon.

Cloud couldn't help it; in order to spend more time with Demyx, he cut his hours at Cid's shop dramatically. He worked Demyx's new pre-school hours, a measly fraction of what he'd been working before. Cid had not been a happy boss.

"Cloud! Damn it! You can't gimme just two fuckin' hours notice that yer fuckin' quitting! I didn't hire you for this shit!"

"I'm not quitting. Just starting again as part-time."

"Lazy fuck."

Cloud grinned. "New dad."

Cid flipped him the bird. "Fuck you. I got a kid and you don't see me running around with a bucket 'cause she's shitting gold."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "You've got plenty of employees—"

"You're _good_, kid. I don't like it."

"Tough luck."

"I'm yer boss, ya dumbass. You don't tell your boss 'tough luck' if you wanna keep yer damn job."

"I don't want to."

"Fine! Yer fired!"

"Good. Can you rehire me to work part-time?"

"Christ—fuck, I walked right into that one." Cid muttered. "Fine. Now git outta my sight, faggot!"

Cloud knew Cid had to be pretty irritated to call him a faggot, but he didn't regret it. At all.

It had been easy, almost ridiculously easy to adjust to Demyx. Life wasn't necessarily easier, but it was way more interesting. And Cloud would admit a bit more rewarding.

Demyx took to his guitar and piano lessons immediately. His instructor, Ariel, also began very basic vocal lessons. Demyx would often strum on his guitar and sing whatever came to mind. Cloud thought it was adorable. Leon thought it was maybe slightly cute, but also very loud. Sora just joined in, singing incredibly ludicrous stories that made Demyx giggle like an idiot.

Demyx adjusted to life in the Leonhart/Strife household with ease.

* * *

Zexion had never been popular among his peers. He was on the short side and more interested in books than social interaction. He hadn't meant to become friends with Demyx; the little blonde had simply wormed himself into Zexion's routine.

And Zexion had become accustomed to the continuous chatter and childish inquisition that came along with him. Demyx would tug on Zexion's sleeve whenever Zexion wasn't listening. Demyx admired Zexion, hanging on his every word. It was nice to have an audience. He'd also nagged the older boy into reading him bedtime stories and eventually giving goodnight hugs.

One day, Demyx declared that Zexion was his "best friend." Zexion had rolled his eyes at the sentiment, but he had felt a little warm inside.

Zexion had never really thought about their age difference until Saix had made fun of him one day.

Zexion was currently in fifth grade. Saix was, too, and taunted Zexion about how embarrassing it must be to have your only friend be a _four-year-old. _He went on to brag about how he was friends with Xemnas, who was already in middle school. He hinted that his choice in friends alluded to his maturity, implying that Zexion was a child.

The teasing continued for weeks until Zexion had simply had enough. In an effort to stop Saix's bullying, Zexion began to avoid Demyx. The four-year-old hadn't understood at all, and was completely confused. Demyx placed the blame on himself and not-so-subtlety followed Zexion around like a kicked puppy, apologizing whenever he could catch Zexion alone.

Even though Zexion had stopped spending time with Demyx, Saix hadn't stopped taunting him. Zexion was irritated beyond belief. Angry, even. Rather than take out his irritation on Saix, he released it on Demyx.

"Demyx, you annoying pest, stop following me around! You are extremely embarrassing to be seen with and I wish you would just _go away_!"

Zexion hadn't been able to stop the harsh words. He'd guiltily watched Demyx's eyes water before the blonde ran away.

Zexion didn't dwell on it for too long because Saix was finally giving him looks of approval.

He didn't think about Demyx the next morning. He didn't acknowledge Demyx's wave when he left for school. He didn't notice that blonde wasn't at dinner. He didn't even think about Demyx until he saw Ellie on his bed. Zexion had sighed, irritated at Demyx's little plot.

Zexion knew Demyx couldn't sleep without Ellie, and was taking a risk that Ellie might not be returned in exchange for the chance of seeing Zexion. Zexion decided not to return the elephant. He moved to shove it off his bed, but stopped when he noticed the crayon-scribbled note attached to Ellie's bow.

_Deer Zexy,_

_I got adopted today! I got two new dadys and I know you dont wanna b my friend nemor but im always yor friend so im leafing Ellie wif you caus you ned a friend even if you dont think so! Peas take good care of her!_

_Luv_

_Demmy_

Zexion blinked. And then blinked again. And soon he was blinking very frequently and would not admit to himself that it was to hold back his tears.

* * *

A/N: I played around with littlekid!verse in this chapter. It was fun. I promise I'll get back to RikuxSora next chapter, but this chapter is necessary if I continue to a sequel. I bet you can figure out why.

I'm trying to decide if I want to change the summary. It's not a very summarizing summary, is it?

Thanks for all the support! I'm glad people like this. I appreciate all of you readers. It's grown to be the longest thing I've ever written. I honestly how no idea how long it's going to be. I mean, Sora hasn't even given birth yet. That's the halfway point in my mind right now. In other news, I broke 100 pages in MS word with this chapter. I felt like a BAMF. I am such a BAMF.


	13. Chapter 13

_CHAPTER THIRTEEN_

* * *

Riku drummed his fingers impatiently on the surface of the end table. His right ankle was resting on his left knee. He was slouched in a wooden chair that had been upholstered with cheap and sterile plastic fabric.

The waiting room was eerily bland. The walls were an unclean off-white that looked in need of paint. The carpet was a strong short weave, almost like welcome mat material.

Riku shifted, switching his legs. He sighed. He shifted. He sighed again, staring at the clock.

Sora finally smacked him across the back of the head.

"What was that for?" Riku demanded.

Sora was innocently reading a "Family Fun" magazine. "What was what for?"

Riku huffed. "You know damn well what."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Riku heaved an exasperated sigh and slouched even further down into his chair. "Liar." He muttered.

Sora hummed in response and turned a page. "Oooh, springtime bunny cookies!"

Riku rolled his eyes and tried to be patient.

After what seemed like hours to Riku but was really only ten minutes, Sora's name was called. Riku helped Sora out of his chair and escorted Sora into the doctor's office.

Vexen raised a brow at Riku's presence.

"Doctor Vexen, this is my boything, Riku!" Sora grinned.

"Boyfriend." Riku corrected.

Vexen nodded at Riku and turned to Sora. "Today we'll be running another ultrasound and a quad screen test. I'm going to do the quad screen first; I don't think I'll be able to get those results back to you by the end of this appointment, but it may be possible."

"Okay!" Sora said, lying back on the bench.

"What's a quad screen?" Riku demanded.

"It's a blood screening test."

"What does it test for?"

"Hormones and proteins in the blood, specifically AFP, hCG, estriol, and inhibin-A."

"What are those? What do unnatural levels indicate?"

"It's designed to test for certain birth defects. If you're that curious I'll get you a pamphlet."

"Get me a pamphlet."

"After I finish. I would really like to get Mr. Strife's blood to the lab first."

Riku nodded, but wasn't satisfied. He watched Dr. Vexen draw blood from one of Sora's veins suspiciously.

"Don't you need to get that from his stomach?"

"No. The fetus is responsible for the production of the proteins and hormones, and the placenta will transfer them between the fetus and the mother, or in this case the father. Blood from any part of the body will do, but I've chosen to use Sora's arm because it's convenient."

"Alright. You may proceed, then."

Dr. Vexen eyed Riku with amusement. "Thank you."

Ten minutes later the test was finished; Vexen left with Sora's blood and returned with a few pamphlets.

Riku took them gratefully.

Sora pulled up his shirt and Vexen began to slather gel on Sora's stomach. Riku was momentarily distracted by the pamphlets, but snapped back to attention when Sora laughed.

"It's cooold! It's always cold!" Sora giggled. "It's like spilling lube all over your stomach!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Riku glared daggers at Vexen's back.

"Applying ultrasound gel." Vexen replied calmly.

Riku huffed. "Continue."

Vexen rolled his eyes so that only Sora could see, and the brunette was giggling for a different reason.

Riku flipped through the pamphlets relatively quickly. When he finished, Vexen had the ultrasound machine running. Riku stared at the image displayed on the screen.

"Roxas is so much bigger!" Sora chirped happily. "Look at him!"

Riku's eyes widened. "He has three arms?"

Vexen scrutinized the image carefully. He gently moved the probe from the Sora's side to the top of his stomach.

Sora gasped. "Omigod."

"You are incorrect, Riku. Roxas has two arms, and his twin has two as well."

"Holy shit." Riku replied. "Is that even safe? Will two babies cause more problems? How are they going to come out?"

Vexen rolled his eyes and gave in. He began a quick lecture on pregnancy health and safety.

* * *

"Twins!" Sora wailed. "Twins!"

"Hush, Sora." Riku mumbled, dragging the dramatic man behind him as they walked towards Riku's car. "People might hear you."

"Omigod. What am I going to do with two?"

"You're going to take care of them." Riku helped Sora get into the passenger's seat and fasten his seat beat. Then he got in the car himself. He glanced at Sora and the other man seemed completely dazed. He turned the car on idle to get the air conditioning to start.

"But what if I can't?" Sora whispered. "Two is more than one."

"Two IS more than one, and you're going to have help. I'm not going to let you let them just starve to death or something. You just need to relax. Take it one day at a time."

Sora turned and Riku was alarmed to see glassy blue eyes.

"Sora."

Sora's bottom lip quivered.

"Sora, don't you cry."

The brunette burst into tears. "I don't even have another name!"

"You can think one up. Like… like Zidane or Vaan or something?" Riku tried to distract Sora.

"Those are stupid names!" Sora bawled.

"Well, you must have thought of other names before settling on Roxas?"

"V-Ventus. Cloud suggested Ventus and I kind of like it." Sora sniffled, calming down a bit.

"Ventus is a nice name. Roxas and Ventus?"

"Ven and Roxas. Ventus is too big for a little baby." Sora rubbed his stomach lovingly. His eyes had dried, something Riku was very grateful for. Then they developed a maniac gleam. Riku froze.

"Riku, boything darling lover."

"Boy_friend._"

"I want to go somewhere."

"Um…?"

"Excellent! Can you take us to the Baby's R Us?"

"_What?_"

"We need to get Ven matching racecar stuff! Their twins! Omigosh twins!" Sora bounced in his seat as Riku backed the car out of his parking spot. "That means there's two! And Roxas' nursery is connected to that other room—oh! I'll have to have two separate nurseries because I don't want them to wake each other up! But that means another monitor. Maybe Cloud can hook them together on different channels?" Sora gasped delightedly. "That means I can buy another rocking chair! Those things are the best!"

Riku sighed. Damn mood swings.

* * *

"Racecars racecars~" Sora sang cheerfully, one hand firmly clasped in Riku's. "We're gonna buy some racecars!"

"Do they really need to have the same print?" Riku asked, eyeing a nautical themed set.

"Riku! Yes!" Sora rolled his eyes, exasperated. "They're fucking twins! They have to _match, _damn it."

"Sure. Whatever makes you happy."

"That's the right answer. See, aren't the racecars cute?"

Fuck. They were kind of cute. "Yes."

"And I think we'll get 'Ventus' embroidered on the side, even though we're going to call him Ven." Sora mused thoughtfully, eyeing the surrounding accessories and trying to remember what he already had. "You know, I think I want to copy Roxas' nursery but turn it so it's a mirror image. Like twins!"

Riku nodded.

"That means I need you to go get me some things."

"Sure, Sora."

* * *

Riku had no idea this much shit was necessary for the development of human offspring.

"Sora, do you really need another monkey bottle cover?"

"Yes. I really do."

"And you really need _baby knee pads?_ I mean, they're babies. They're not even going to crawl for months. Why are you buying these now?"

"What if the store runs out?"

"What if they don't and you just end up misplacing them?"

"…Okay, fine. The knee pads can go back."

"Thank you."

"I'm keeping my damn monkeys, though."

"I didn't touch your monkeys!"

"I saw you eyeing them!"

"That's cause they're fucking weird."

"They're cute. They keep the milk warm."

"That's what the bottle warmers are for! Why do you need a monkey?"

"I JUST WANT THE DAMN MONKEYS, OKAY?"

"Okay, okay! Christ." Riku put the pads back and didn't even glance at the cart where the monkeys were resting.

"Baby bottom fans." Sora mused at the package in his hand. "Do we need those?"

"No. What the fuck, Sora."

"They also have pee-pee teepee's that you put on their dicks to keep them from peeing on you."

"That might be nice."

"For twelve dollars?"

"…the hell? Can you reuse them or something?"

"Yeah. It says machine washable."

"That's better than the fucking fans. Why do babies need butt fans?"

"You never know, they might like having an airy breeze down there."

"…"

"Okay, fine." Sora looked around and melted. "Look at that stuffed owl! Fuck, I need it. It's adorable."

"Sora!"

"I'll get some. Aren't they cute, Riku?"

Riku sighed. "Sora, that's not why we're here."

"Shut up. We're here for our babies." Sora said, shuffling over to the shelf. Riku blinked.

"Our babies?"

Sora sighed. "You're sure not getting rid of them now! It comes with the package, Riku. Hm." Sora eyed the owls appraisingly. "Axel told me Roxas had no toys, and he was right! What kind of daddy am I! We're getting these. A blue one for Roxas and a red one for Ven."

"Owls?"

"What's wrong with owls?"

"I don't know, why not bunnies or bears or something?"

"Because owls are far superior. Duh, Riku."

"You're just impulsive."

"I like my owls! They can be friends with the monkeys."

"I'LL FUCK YOUR MONKEYS!" Riku yelled, and the mothers in the store sent him disapproving glares. Sora laughed so hard he had to use the shopping cart to stay standing.

* * *

"Cloooud!" Sora sang when he arrived home. "Guess what?"

Cloud peeked his head out from the living room, Demyx on his back with his chin on Cloud's shoulder. "What?"

"Hey Demyx!" Sora greeted.

"Hi Uncle Sora! Me and Daddy were playing the music game."

"Rock band? Without your Uncle Sora?" Sora fake-gasped and swooned, causing Demyx to giggled outrageously.

Cloud smirked. "Did the doctor's appointment go okay?"

"Yes! And then Riku and I went shopping. I'm having everything delivered and I used that credit card Leon said too."

"Why'd you need to go shopping?"

Sora twirled. "Twins!"

"_What?_"

"I'm having twins!"

Cloud's jaw dropped. "Two?"

"That's what twins implies, isn't it?"

Demyx cheered, hugging his Uncle around the legs. Sora picked him up and they danced across the living room floor.

"I can't believe… twins." Cloud rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "And we went through that name fight before."

"Ven and Roxas." Sora said with a smile. "Get ready, world!"

* * *

A/N: I know, I know. Short chapter. I also haven't responded to reviews. I know. I'm video game obsessed right now, okay? I'm saving the universe, which is obviously a task far more important than writing.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter. I know it's not really much plot at all, but we're kind of in the slow-Riku/Sora-need-to-fall-in-love section. After Sora has his c-section the plot will pick up again. So grab your toothbrush and prepare for some fluff in the meantime.

Quick note: I got an AO3 account. If this site stops working, I'll keep posting there. This place has been getting a little crazzzy.


	14. Chapter 14

_CHAPTER FOURTEEN_

* * *

"Jenova and Sons, this is Riku. How may I help you today?"

"Hi Riku!"

"Hey Sora. How are you?"

"I'm good. Laying on my bed like a bum."

"Obeying the doctor's request for bed rest isn't being a bum. I'm glad you're being safe."

"Mmm. I've got a question for you."

"I've asked you not to call me at work unless it's an emergency, remember?"

"Well, yes. But this is important. I sent you several text messages and left inquiring voicemails and got no reply."

"That might be because I'm working."

"It's a very important question, Riku. One that is integral to the health and future and prosperity of our precious offspring. One that you might regret not answering."

"Fine. If it's really that important—"

"Why can't pregnant people be around cat poop?"

"…Can't you just Google that?"

"Oh, oh yeah! Thanks, Riku. You're a fucking genius."

Riku snorted when the phone line went dead. Only Sora. He went back to pushing papers and rearranging Loz's schedule for the following afternoon (one client just would not _quit_ until they got an appointment at three).

Fifteen minutes later, the phone rang once more.

"Jenova and Sons, this is Riku. How may I help you today?"

"_TOXOPLASMOSIS!_"

"What the fuck." Riku said, then he abashedly covered his mouth because he realized he was at work. "Sora, really."

Sora cracked up. "Naughty Riku, cussing at work."

Riku refused to acknowledge his mistake. "So what's this toxo-nonsense you yelled into my ear?"

"Toxoplasma gondii, Riku! It's an evil parasite that lives in cat poop and eats fetuses!"

"I see."

"What if I have it?" Sora whispered.

"You don't even have a cat. You can't have it. No exposure."

"It's in raw and uncooked meats, too!"

"Raw and uncooked mean the same thing."

"That's not the point!"

"The point is that you don't eat raw meat. Therefore, stop worrying about stupid things."

"I touch it when I cook, though."

"And you wash your hands afterwards."

"What if I didn't wash my hands thoroughly enough?"

"Sora, you're the only person I know that actually sings the birthday song twice while washing their hands. You'll be fine."

"I'm thinking of switching to the itsy bitsy spider song. It's a bit longer."

"Is it really?"

"You know, damn. I don't know. I'll get back to you."

"Sora—"

The line went dead. Riku rolled his eyes.

He continued with his work and was unsurprised when the phone rang less than a five minutes later.

"Jenova and Sons, this is Riku. How may I help you today?"

"The itsy bitsy spider is much longer than the happy birthday song! I counted 12 seconds for the latter, so 24 total seconds, while the itsy bitsy spider song was 18 seconds! That's six—no, _twelve_ more seconds total! I also repeated my experiment for accurate data!"

"Your mother must be proud."

"I think it's pretty impressive I remember all the lyrics."

"They're nursery rhymes."

"It's been a long time since I've heard them!"

"Don't lie, I saw you reading that Mother Goose book to your stomach the other day."

"Omigod, really?"

"I took a picture on my phone. It's my background."

"Riku, you bast—!"

Riku was the one who hung up first, and this time there was a smile on his face.

* * *

"Uncle Sora?" Demyx peeked his head into the room where Sora was lazing about.

"Nephew Demmy?" Sora sent Demyx a smile, which made the little boy burst into the room at high speed.

"D'you wanna play?"

"What kind of game? Is it a game involving lots of moving and bending over? I'm not good at bending over anymore, and I'm supposed to stay in bed. That's why Cloud's home."

"Right. Your giant walrus tummy." Demyx replied.

Sora chuckled. "A giant walrus tummy?"

Demyx nodded, very serious. "It's a walrus tummy."

"Why not?" Sora rubbed his stomach, amused. "What did you want to play?"

"Oh, right! Well, papa read me a story last night and I realized that the couch is perfect and I need help getting supplies."

Sora sent the four year old a blank look. "Um, and?"

"COVERED WAGON!" Demyx cried. "We must prepare for a long trip across the country!"

"You want to play _covered wagon_?"

"I need you to make snacks!" Demyx gesticulated wildly. "I will pack games and stuffed aminals and some snuggly blankets."

"And then what?"

"We sit in the wagon!"

"Of course."

"And then we die."

"We die?"

"Yeah, papa said a lot of people died and had desentferry."

" Desentferry? Desentferry." Sora pushed himself up from where he was seated and toddled out of the room, Demyx at his heels. "What's desentferry?"

"Papa said you poop yourself to death."

"Dysentery. You mean dysentery."

"Yeah!"

"I don't want to die that way. Can we just pretend to get shot?"

"Okay! But we still need snacks!"

Sora nodded and hustled off to the kitchen as effectively as a pregnant man can hustle. He sliced up some apples and got some peanut butter for dipping. When he arrived at the couch, he was unsurprised to see a blanket covering the whole thing.

Demyx popped his head out. "C'mon in! Covered wagon, covered wagon~" He chanted.

Sora grinned and climbed under the blanket. "So, now what?"

"The horses have to pull us to Oregon."

"To Oregon?"

Demyx nodded. "It's a very long trip."

"Yeah."

"OKAY WE'RE HERE!" Demyx jumped out from underneath the blanket.

"Um, already?"

"AH! I WAS KILLED BY AN INDIAN!"

"You haven't had any apples yet."

"Oh! Oh, right. Okay, well I revive myself 'cuz I'm magic and I can do that."

"Of course."

* * *

"Jenova and Sons, this is Riku. How may I help you today?"

"Why haven't I had a baby shower? Aren't you supposed to be in charge of that sort of thing?"

"Really? _Really_? That's what you want to talk about right now?"

"I'm just curious, is all."

"Why do you even want a baby shower? You've got everything you need."

"_We've _got everything _we_ need."

"Yes, right. Still."

"Because it's tradition!"

"Tradition."

"You have to follow traditions. It's customary! It's something done repeatedly by a culture! Something passed down from generation to generation! It's a longstanding practice that must be acknowledged!"

"Sounds important."

"Very, very important."

"And why am I in charge of it? Why not your brother?"

"Well, you're speed dial number one!"

"My office is your speed dial number one."

"Well, no. Your cell is. But you have it on voicemail! Why would I call your phone just to get voicemail? Why not call work where I can talk to you immediately?"

"Because I'm _working._"

"It sounds like you should be planning a baby shower to me."

"You're going to be the death of me."

* * *

"Kairi, I have a question."

Kairi juggled her phone from her right hand to her left shoulder, pressing her face against the device to keep it from falling while she was cooking. Axel was perched on her left hip and eyed the phone with a devilish grin. Kairi sent him "the look" and he went back to playing with his stuffed dinosaur on her shoulder.

"What's up, Sora?"

"Who is supposed to be in charge of baby showers? Riku says he won't throw me one."

"He's like the other dad, Sora. Isn't he?"

"As of right now, yes. He's fucking gorgeous. As soon as I stop feeling like a bloated whale we're going to—"

"AND too much information, pal. Let's keep this convo PG. Axel's around."

"Sorry. I'm just really looking forward to—"

"Sora. What did I just say?"

"I was going to say sex, that's all! Isn't that PG?"

Kairi sighed. "Usually, a baby showers is given by close relatives or good friends. Riku's right."

"Oh." Sora sounded a bit dejected. "I want one."

"A baby shower? Why? I thought you'd already gotten everything. I can send you over Axel's baby things, too. Axel's enough for me. Between him and his daddy I've got two kids."

"Oh, did I tell you I'm having twins?"

"Twins!" Kairi gasped. "Oh, that's fantastic! Do you need more stuff for the other baby?"

"No, I got them matching everything."

"Um, they aren't the same person. Why do they have to match?"

"Because it's fucking cute. When they decide they want to do different things, that's totally fine, but I'm going to enjoy having them match while I can!"

"It is a bit cute, I guess. Are they fraternal or identical?"

"I don't know. We'll find out!"

Kairi drained her pasta with a pursed lip. "So if you have everything you need, why do you want a baby shower?"

"I guess I want a baby celebration party."

"Sora."

"I want a cake. I want a damn baby cake, okay? One that's got cute marzipan baby shaped decorations and that makes Riku vomit because it's too adorable to stomach."

"Can't you just order one?"

"I have no reason to."

"When has that ever stopped you before?" Kairi said dryly. "Just get yourself a happy day cake and relax. And stop bothering Riku."

"I think I want a blue cake. With racecars. And I'm not bothering Riku!"

"You continue to call him at work even though he told you it's only for emergencies!"

"How do you even know that?"

"Riku."

"He _told_ you that?"

"He _told_ me his boss gave him a talk about how he was spending the company's time."

"Fuck."

"He told you, Sora."

"I know, I didn't mean to get him in trouble."

"Too late."

"Mmm. Thanks Kai. Talk to you later."

* * *

"Jenova and Sons, this is Riku. How may I help you today?"

"Hey Riku."

"Sora—"

"Just gimme a damn minute." Sora took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, okay? I know I'm not supposed to call you at work, but sometimes I just miss you."

"Sor—"

"And sometimes I just want to talk. You know I get bored. This laying around thing is harder than it seems! Sometimes I just need something to do, you know? I hate just lying around by myself. Video games and TV give me a really bad headache after so long. And I've read all the books in my stack."

"I can bring you more books."

"I just want to talk. I didn't mean to bother you. I just… I just get lonely."

"Sora, babe, stop crying. I know. I know it's hard. I'll be over tonight, okay? Just like I've been coming over for months. You're never alone. You're so close, too. Only what?"

"Only one more month."

"See? You can make that easy."

"I just… I can't even move! I feel like a beached whale! I hate this. I hate feeling so needy and emotional and… and I want you to come home now."

"Babe—"

"You're always over here anyway and once the babies are born I'll need you and we've been dating for a few months now and please move in with me?"

"Sora…"

"…please?"

"Of course I will. Most of my stuff already at your house, anyway. Okay?"

"Okay." There was a pause. "Riku?"

"Yes, Sora? I need to get back to work. I'll be home as soon as I can, but I can't get off work on such a short notice. I'm sorry."

"I love you."

"Oh." Riku mumbled quietly. "Oh, Sora. I love you too. So much."

"I miss you. Please come home?"

"Baby."

"Please?"

"Sora…"

"I need you."

"Sora!"

"Please?"

"Okay! Okay. Stop with that whiny voice. I'll come home."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Now try to get some rest. I'm coming home right now." Riku sighed as he hung up the phone. He raked his fingers through his hard.

The last couple of months had been an absolute joy. He and Sora were everything he'd ever dreamed of. However, Sora's mood swings had rapidly increased as his due date approached and Riku was not sure how much more of it he could take.

But he loved Sora. People deal with stupid, crazy things when they're in love.

* * *

A/N: I know this is late. Sorry. This time video games aren't to blame, it's Axis Powers Hetalia. (!)

I probably won't get to my review responses from the last chapter, either, but thank you all very much for your reviews! This chapter was kind of hard. I want to just fast forward to the actual interesting parts, so I did. Sorry if it's a bit dialogue-y.


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